with a deep awareness of the responsibility conferred by your trust, i acceptor nomination for the presidency of the united states. >> this is america, a brilliant diversity. spread like stars with 1,000 points of light in a broad and peaceful sky. >> i call on every american to rise above all the major bias.

>> they had their chance. they have not led. well. >> fight with me. fight with me. fight for what's right. >> this is cnn. all eyes are on the sky waiting for the full force of hurricane isaac to hit. >> and i'm wolf blitzer here in tampa. people's eyes are certainly on the republican national con den venks podium behind me, but the storm certainly in the back of everyone's mind. isaac lashes the gulf coast. a complication for republicans as they nominate their presidential candidate. this is where mitt romney steps in to the arena, this is where he claims his party's prize. a bruising primary battle behind him and the fight of a lifetime ahead. >> we'll stand for america and we'll win.

>> in tampa tonight, republicans try to reset the stage, sharpen their message, define their candidate. and counter the democrats' attacks. >> he's got no new ideas. >> it's like robin hood in reverse. >> this is what a desperate presidency looks like. the president is taking things to a new low. >> after four years of obama, republicans hope tampa can change the game. but romney still has something to prove. >> this is an election about restoring the promise of america. >> to skeptics in his own party and independents taking their first hard look at the man. his record and his running mate. >> i'm excited for what lie he is ahead. i'm thrilled to be a part of america's come back team. together we'll take back this country and keep it the hope of the earth.

thank you so very much. thank you. >> now cnn turns the spot white on one of the biggest platforms in american politics. in a state where presidential elections are won. >> i'm counting you to help me win november. >> welcome to the republican national convention. it's your vote. your future. your country. your choice. welcome back to tampa for the republican national convention. you're looking at live pictures of the forum. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states an around the world. i'm wolf blitzer along with erin burnett. erin, lots of excitement here on the floor tonight as they get ready for mrs. romney to actually speak. >> that's right. they're getting ready for that.

i saw the booth are wr twhere t romney boys will be sitting along with the families. and john boehner is beginning things. he'll be on the podium to issue the call to order for this evening's session. and later, ann romney will be formally addressing the convention. her speech expected to be one of the high points of the night. sort of the yin and yang. she gives the personal side and then the other high point, the keynote address, from new jersey governor chris christie. everyone knows where that louisiana and the gulf coast will be feeling the fulls foors of hurricane isaac tonight perhaps literally as they're speaking. not an ideal situation here in tampa and a terrible situation possibly in new orleans where anderson cooper is. anders anderson. >> thanks very much. i'm here with rob marciano. we're starting to see an increase in the wind and rain in

the last minute or two. i'll talk to rob about what that may mean but i'm understanding we have a new update on the storm. so let's go to chad myers at the weather center. what have you learned? >> reporter: every two hours now the hurricane center will update us. and we've just learned that an oil rig in the gulf of mexico at 279 feet, just mad a wihad a wi to 106 miles an hour. you have to understand that's about the top of a 30th floor building. and there are 30 floor buildings in new orleans. there it is right there moving very close to the delta into the southern part. i would say that's just about where the delta comes together with the mississippi. here eat mississippi river all the way down and then into the gulf of mexico. lake bourne and lake pontchartrain, ed lavendera is right on this beach.

farther to the north, anderson cooper right along the river. there's the bridge that goes over the original itself and the port of new orleans. anderson cooper standing right there with rod mab marciano. and the place we're most concerned about, shell beach. now a storm surgery already of 8-feet, that water pouring in to the mississippi river outlet. and that water is flooding places in here in plaquemines parish that have not had any type of protection. if you're not behind a seawall and levee right now, you are getting wet in these areas. and it's just beginning. the height of the water could just go double where we are right now at least. >> and that's why officials here have been telling people living in low lying areas in a we're not under levee protection to evacuate. and i'm here with rob marciano fp it seems like the hallmark of this hurricane is without a date going to be the water.

>> definitely. and the speed of which it's coming in and the angle. it's taking a different track than katrina. we're on the bad side of the storm. so everything is kind of reversed. we get a different kind of storm surge, we'll get a ton of water with that, as well. >> so we'll be hit by the northeastern quadrant? >> exactly. so the strongest amount of rain and strongest push from the gulf of mexico. and because of that, these levee systems that we've been talking about now for seven years really will be put to the test. the army corps has been busy shutting the floodgates. they have turned the pumps on. so the system brought into full force. >> and that was a real critical station seven years ago. that's one of the levees that failed that allowed the water from lake pontchartrain to pour into new orleans. >> exactly. and really all afternoon with that northeast wind, that end of the shore line's been getting

pounded with wind and rain. so if they didn't have that new structure, we might be talking the whole scenario all over again. >> is there an update on the speed with which the storm is moving? because again i'm really impressed by how slow and how long we'll be under these conditions. >> yeah, you're 100 miles away from the center. the center is moving to the northwest at 8 miles an hour. i can do that kind much division. that's still 12 hours, 12 hours from you getting your closest approach. which will probably be honestly to the west of you. it will still be going. not much there in louisiana. this is all bayou. you think about if it hits land, it will slow down. there's not much land here. there's just as much water as there is wland. and then it will continue very close to bat ton rouge. they may have more damage than new orleans proper. it won't slow much down before it gets to you. so you need to be getting ready for this, as well.

>> and we've talked about the possibility of 20 ifshlg inchen here in new orleans. can the city handle that? >> frankly, no. even though they're modern pumps and can pump out in excess of 150 gallons per second, they're still only designed to punch out about an in pump out about an ifshlg the first hour and then a half inch after that. and these storms will punch out two, three inches per hour for several hours. so there will be flooding within the levee walls. the question is how much. >> and how long it will last. we'll check in with rob throughout the evening. chad myers, as well. right notice back it tampa and wolf. >> thanks to all of our correspondents. be careful out there. we'll get back to you soon. just a little while ago here in tampa, we watched mitt romney go over the top in the roll call of delegates. now those same delegates will be hearing some of the republican parties' biggest stars.

candy crowley is on the podium watching what's going on. she can watch the speakers come on and off the stage, talk with some of them. stand by if that. our reporters are also here. jik being jim beingacosta, dana bash. among the vips. we'll check in with all of them as we watch what's going on. dana bash is out there right now. what are you seeing? >> we're seeing everybody get ready for the first big speech of the evening. and that speech is going to be from the house speaker john boehner. i actually caught up with him earlier today and talked to him a little bit about some comments that he made at a private fund raiser in the last month or so saying that people don't have to necessarily be in love with mitt romney. the point he was making is that this election is going to be about opposing barack obama. and i asked him just generally what he thought about the fact that mitt romney doesn't necessarily connect on that emotional level. listen to what he said.

>> the point i was trying to make, a lady asked the question make me fall in love with mitt romney. and i said, no, this election is about a referendum on the president's economic policies. that was the whole point i was making. this is an election about the economy and jobs. and as a result, i think our team's done a great job to win it. >> but mitt romney if you look at polls and you talk to his advisers, he does have a problem when it comes to the favor ability. is that a problem for republicans? >> he's a very shy guy. he's a humble guy. doesn't like for talk about himself. that's who he is. but i've known mitt romney for a long time. decent, honest, hard working guy. and i think thursday he'll have a chance to what i'll call reintroduce himself to the american people. never really had that chance. he's been locked in to this

republican primary and then this battle with the president. so i think thursday night is clearly an important speech for him and i think he'll have a chance to reintroduce himself to the american people, most of whom are just paying attention now. >> as for john boehner, what is he going to say when he speaks just moments from now? he told us that he'll say what we hear him say all the time. he'll ask the question where are the jobs. he wants to turn the discussion back to the economy. wolf. >> let's go to john berman. where are you right now on the floor? i see you have a special guest. >> i'm standing root next to the south carolina delegation and standing next for mark sanford who is here tonight. hi, governor. speaking tonight, you'll know is the current governor, nikki haley. what do you think she'll talk about tonight? >> i think she'll talk about a whole lot of things that will appeal to a whole lot of people in this room.

a dell graegation that's awfull excited about this honor with her being on the podium tonight. >> and it's been a few years since you've been in politics. how have things changed since you've left? >> that's probably longer than a 30 ekd s second yes, but what h changed is the economic situation has deteriorated. the deficit is a much bigger issue. and whether you call it the ron paul or the tea party faction, i think it's moved forward, probably taken a laernlg step. >> we heard them tonight. they are loud. >> yeah. so i think you'll continue to see that growing presence as a wing of the party. >> and there is personal news. congratulations on your engagement. >> i appreciate it. do you miss politics? >> i think that, you know, if you you love the war of ideas if you want to call it that and you've been engaged in it, search you miss that part. so it's a treat to be down here with the delegation and be a part of what's going to occur tonight.

>> nice to see you. wolf. all right, thanks very much. we're only moments away from the start of tonight's session of this republican national convention. you'll matter the house speaker john boehner, he'll step up to the dium, issue the call to order. stand by. much more of our coverage from here in tampa and the gulf coast when we come back. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived,

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welcome back. there's going to be major speakers later tonight. let's go up to john king

watching what's going on. he has a special guest. >> and that special guest is neal newhouse. mitt romney is thousand officially the republican nominee for president. the question is can he defeat president obama. neal is with me and this is the map from 2008. obviously think you can make it different. i want to look at the new pole that shows us what we know, that we enter the convention with a national dead heat.le that shows us what we know, that we enter the convention with a national dead heat. that shows us what we know, that we enter the convention with a national dead heat. >> what's interesting about will this, this is registered voters, not likely voters. that's an advantage. and we're going into the convention basically in a dead heat. we're in a great position. >> many would say 8% unemployment, persistent economic problem, maybe you you should be in a better position. but 78% of those who voted for the president say they would vote for him again. the big question is who are these 14% who say they will vote for president obama. >> let's back up for a second.

what it says is the retention rate for mitt romney among -- >> he's getting 91%. >> and obama's just getting 70% of his own voter. that reflects everything we've seen in our focus groups. these voters are frustrated. for them to -- the hope is gone. these voters are frustrated. so you have 22% of americans 14 plus the other 8%, they tend to be women, they tend to be younger, lower educated and they're frustrated with the obama economy. what's interesting, they've made up their minds on barack obama. >> they're not sold on the fact mitt romney is the change. that he doesn't quite get the middle class. what does ann romney say that opens the -- >> that's what this con krenven is all about.

this is about taking advantage of the audience we have and tell us the story about mitt romney, about who he is as a person, a father, a husband will, a grandfather. his business experience. experience as governor. >> this is the state of florida which is a dead heat where we are tonight. he leads among men. we see this just about everywhere we go. a gender gap in his favor among men will, but a deep divide. he needs to change those numbers. why? >> this is not unusual, but and you are right. we need to do better among women voters. once he gets introduced on our term, we'll make inroads. and it's not just on character, but on policy. ic the obama economy has not -- there's been a war on women, but the war on women has been president obama's economy. that's what's hurting these women. >> in the end that's what this is about. you're polling for the governor

across the country. we have 237 roughly either solid if they're dark blue or light blue leaning the president's way, 191 solid red or light red leaning governor romney's way. we're in florida. you can get to 270 without turning this state red? >> but listen -- >> not too many people get to touch the magic wall. it's yours. >> we'll win florida. we'll win north carolina. we'll win virginia. >> that gets you ahead of the president. >> ohio is as usual ground zero in this election. we do well in the suburban areas around columbus and in the rural areas southern ohio, we get that vote out, we'll edge it -- you saw the columbus dispatch survey that showed out of 1500 people they interviewed, there's two person difference in who they're voting for. election day, that turns red. then we've got the hidden secret is wisconsin. nobody are tell i'm sure, but wisconsin, this is a state that paul ryan's put into play and we

think we can win wisconsin. wisconsin would put us over the top. >> but let's have the sake of argument. let's say the president keeps florida. that puts him on the doorstep. how do you block help then, can you win in which in thnew hamps colorado? >> it puts us almost with a tie. >> and then we fight it out. so you'd have to turn one of these blue probably. >> nevada will turn. i'm confident. it th that state will go. and about tputs more pressure o pennsylvania and other states. >> florida is very important. >> this is what makes the map district it for barack obama. us winning wisconsin. that makes his map much more difficult. >> and so your overriding goal at the convention is to get a

bump in the horse race numbers or to change the underlying numbers where people say he doesn't understand the middle class? i call it the empathy gap. >> but when you look at the numbers right now, we're in a tied race going in to this thing. there aren't many persuadable voters out there and you have the democratic convention right on the heels of our convention. once you get through these c conventi convention, i think we'll be pretty much where we started in terms of a dead heat, but i think we'll see a different score in mitt's image. voters will understand more about his character. we'll see underlying numbers on mitt improve putting him in a better position to win in the fall. >> appreciate you coming by. we'll take a look at the important business i don't understand going on the floor. like paul ryan, from the state of wisconsin, let's pick up our conversation. gloria, i want to start with

you. wisconsin. really in play? >> hasn't been in play for a really long time and they believe paul ryan is their magic bullet and paul ryan can deliver the state. he's clearly made the polls tighten, but i still think it's a tough slough for the republican. but it's in play. p. >> so when we went through the scenario, plausible neal newhouse just layout or not so much? >> he's a little too self-confident about florida and ohio. ohio is tough. they've been running five points behind. the auto bailout has really helped them. so i don't see any -- wiit's a hard climb for mitt romney in ohio or practice. >> and he was candid about the fact that the gender gap, how far they're down among women.

republicans won't win among women, but when george w. bush beat john kerry in a relatively close election, he had a ten point gap among men and only minus three among women. can mitt romney get from minus ten to minus three, is that doable? >> they can't think there's a future for them in terms of health care access. he talked about the economy. women care about equal pay,s as well. i see a path to victory for president obama. i just don't see the path that mitt romney can take at this time. >> we'll listen to the chairman of the national republican committee reince priebus. >> if barack obama gets four more years, it might be too late. we're not just spending were

rowed money. we'rewed time. look at the record of the outgoing administration.money. we're living on borrowed time. look at the record of the outgoing administration. 23 million americans struggling for work. 42 month of unemployment above 8%. the worst jobs record since the great depression. it's time to elect mitt romney so we can get moving on the great america comeback! >> that's reince priebus. we're getting ready to it hear from ann romney and chris christie. piers morgan is here, as well. he spoke with the former florida governor jeb bush who had

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these are live pictures from lake pontchartrain. this hurricane isaac is really beginning to whip things up and it's still off the coast. ari fleischer is with us, roland martin is with us. we're watching the republican

coention. first to ar chlt hei here in ta. you have strong views on you how the republicans who have gathered here need to deal with this whole issue of a hurricane hitting louisiana, alabama, mississippi, even as the speaking continues here in tampa. >> i look at this on two levels. one is the government's responsibility of the way to help people out of harm and it being looks like that's going well and i think everybody is praying for good results and help for the people in the path. from the political point of view, our system is built around certain fundamental events. the conventions, debate, election day. and whenever there's some type of natural disaster like this, so long as it's not so terribly severe that so many lives are lost, we have an obligation to democracy. we wouldn't con sell presidential debates if there was a hurricane coming through a different city and i look that the convention at the same way.

it's important that it succeeds and then we get along to the next event. i'm not a part of the group that says it should be pair ee ee ee our canceled. >> i would say it's a part of the democracy, but the problem is when you have such a major event, when you have speakers who are operating from the republican, criticizing the president and his policies while you don't know what's happening on the ground, that's part of the problem. we have republican governors. jindal's not here. so when you are dealing with folks who might be losing their life, might be displaced from their home. so two different pictures going on. so i don't believe that you cancel it, but i do think as a

party, you have to recognize that you're having an event going on while you have a portion of the country that is being devastated and soit's hard to say one thing on the podium when you don't know what's happening on the ground. if it comes to shore, then you see what happens tomorrow. even a better sense of what the damage was, how severe it was. >> but these people are adept, they're able to talk about what's on the ground. they'll address it. you but my point is if it happened right before a presidential debate, the debate should go on. convention should go on. >> and as center obama said in 2008, you have to do more than one thing when you're president. same thing here. >> we're go on right here. don't go too far away. piers morgan standing by. he's joining us right now. you had a special guest you spoke to a little while ago. >> yeah, i sat down with the two time governor of florida, jeb bush. a man in a unique position to tell mitt romney what it takes to be president.

his brother and father both presidents. and he's governor of a state that will be crucial to mitt romney's chances. so he was very revealing. take a look at this. nobody probably on god's earth has a better idea of what mitt romney should do to win this election. you've been governor twice. you won two terms in florida. which is going to be one of the key battlegrounds for the election. your brother and your father were both president. as mitt romney prepares for what could be a crucial speech on thursday, what advice do you give him from your unique perspective? >> it's great to have you you in tampa for starters. i would say two things. one, layout a compelling alternative to the mess we're in. it's one thing to say mr. president you failed. that's part of politics. but people know that. we're in tough economic times. and i think the -- we need to kind of -- he needs to restate his economic message to give

people hope that there's a better chance for a better life going forward. and the second thing he has to do is to share the mitt romney story. it's amazing that we live in a time where people see their candidates a lot but don't really get a chance to know them. and i think mitt romney's a reserved man. >> because of his track word, there are questions how about whether he's the right good. can he relate to the ordinary manner on the street? >> there's two factors. he's been reluctant to share what's in his heart and the second is he's had his bark skra scraped off of him by his opponent. so if you watch tv ads in florida, we're a battleground state, so we get a lot of tv ads. you would think mitt romney should be in prison for first

degree something. >> i was following the trail of the reblican nominee race and to be fair to barack obama, mitt romney was beating him up. they've both been at each other. gr so to answer your question about why it is that people may not relate to mitt romney, they're seeing tv aeds that make him into the sdefl idevil incar. >> should he have revealed one of his taxes? people know he's very rich and there are ongoing concerns about exactly why he got to be so rich? >> i happened -- i may be an aberration, but i think his wealth was earned. he earned it. his success should be celebra d celebrated, not demonized. but we're living in a world where every single aspect of

every single little thing is scrutinized in unfair ways. so i'm not sure what the motivation was to do what he did, but he did the same thing john mccain did and there wasn't a big outcry. let's be fair about that. in two years of tax returns. you get a good sense ever how he's made his money and where he's paid his taxes and tithing he does which is pretty remarkable. >> on taxation, many republicans are resolutely opposed to any new taxes. you've been suggesting that that maybe shouldn't be quite such a rigid position. certainly some kind of revenue not an alien concept. >> if you get into very orthodox positions where something that may not be a tax increase is considered one by some third party and therefore you can't abide by it, in order to get entitlement reform done, which if you look at our fiscal

structural deficits and they're huge, 80% of it is spending. 80% of it needs to be fixed with spending. in order to get that done, you have to find through tax reform in all likelihood raising eligibility limits for medicare. there's a lot of things that could be done that someone might view as a tax increase. it may be an ending of an exemption of some kind before we have to start solving problems. >> is it possible to get this deficit significantly reduced from $16 trillion without some tax increase? >> it's possible, sure. you can begin to see a reduction in the deficit. you won't reduce the debt because the debt will grow a trillion dollars next year and a trillion after that and ten trillion in ten years and maybe more if we can't grow the economy. so the job number one is to grow the which i. if you grew it 3.5% to 4% a

year, you would garner more than enough revenue to deal with that 20% for sure. it would change the whole debate even though higher income people now, we have the highest progressivity of any country in the developed world. we already pay m1% of the peopl pay 30% of the taxes. at what point do you say you've given enough. we need to grow the economy and then deal with these outyear spending costs that are just unacceptable and unsustainable. and tax reform provides the catalyst i think for common ground to make this happen in a divided country. i love my condition and i see decline in the future unless we begin to solve these problems. if we can't solve it by having 60 republican senators and a majority in the congress and a republican president with a

clear agenda, good that doesn't happy in this election, then there has to be some compromise. ronald reagan did it and he's now an icon among conservives as he should be. >> governor, it's been a pleasure. jeb bush there. i've interviewed him twice now and i'm amazed he never ran. he's like the voice of reason on almost every issue. >> i was just thinking that. he also talks about the big ten of the republican party. neal newhouse said we might win nevada. that's a big question for hispanic voters. jeb bush talks about that constantly. but he's talking about tax reform, he's talking about big tent, compromise. which is something you don't matter from a lot of republicans. that maybe the reason he decided not reason. >> something we haven't seen a

lot from the republicans. he was invoking the name of reagan there and doing it quite deliberately i thought. >> one of the perks of american history. two bush brothers ran for governor on the same day. family thought jeb would win, george w. would lose and that jeb would go on to be the presidential kancandidate and instead it flipped and the rest was history. i think there's still a jeb out there in the future. but he's got paul ryan to deal with now. things have changed. but he offers an adult conversation. >> on almost everything i talked to him about, he was a reasonable man. and a lot of interviews, do, people are very divisive. he doesn't do that. >> he's pragmatic. if you you don't have the votes,

you have to cut a deal. so mitt romney as governor of massachusetts had to deal with democrats. if he wins the election, would he be that or would he stick to the more ideological indoctri indoctrinati indoctrination. who is mitt romney. he's present himself as the next ronald reagan, but they don't want him to cut the deals reagan did. a lot of the delegates think he's george h.w. bush again. >> could you imagine a situation if mitt romney were to lose where jeb bush was running for the election? >> i could, but this is a party in transition. will it transition more to the right or will it transition to somebody like a jeb bush or like a chris christie. that's the big question. >> thanks for now, guys. back to wolf. want to go to the podium right now.

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on earth! thank you. >> the mayor of saratoga springs in utah firing up this crowd here. erin, you and i will have a chance later in the night to speak with her life. i'm looking forward to that. >> her story is amazing. she's running for congress, she'd be the first black female republican congresswoman. so -- >> from utah. >> from utah. and her staer ory is amazing. >> we'll also be going back to anderson cooper and our crews in new orleans along the gulf hurricane. hurricane isaac moving closer and closer toward them. the wind and the rain already seeing flooding caused by the storm surges. we'll have much more on that part of the story when we come back.

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coming for you live from new orleans here with rob marciano. also going to be joined by chad myers and we'll check in with soledad o'brien. but five minutes ago, there was no rain. it seemed like everything kind of dissipated and then we saw a squall come through and now it's dissipated again. >> that's how it's been all day and the frequency of the breaks has certainly shortened and that will be the way it goes for the next few hours. just before we went on broadcast, we took a look at the computer and there's a you buoy where the winds were gusting 60,

70 miles per hour and all of a sudden it went calm. so there's where the eye is. we're on the worst side of the storm, so we'll be peppered with the rain and wind squalls throughout squalls throughout the night. >> chad, when is the worst of this storm supposed to hit in the new orleans area? >> i would probably say somewhere a little bit after midnight. that would be when the closest approach to the eye wall that you're going to get. but that's going to continue to be bad to 8:00 a.m. you'll have eight hours of just pounding, pounding weather. let's zoom in to what rob was talking about, basically the center of circulation, the eye now, forming the eye still. try to form a smaller eye which would have had much higher winds. that eye, again, fell apart. let's just do a couple of things here. i'll see if we can get a wind gust. that's 70 -- i saw 77 miles per hour there. and where ed lavandera is, about

48 miles per hour for him. so this is really going. this storm is now taking shape. it's moving everywhere we thought it would. it's now beginning to push water into places that we knew what would happen. especially shell beach now, 9.3 feet of storm surge already. not even close to having the center. there's the oil platform here at the bottom of the mississippi river. 106-mile-per-hour gusts about half an mile ago. there's grand isle. our ed lavender is broadcasting live from there. you guys are right there, under that bridge. you're going to have a minor wind gust, another band, in about ten minutes. and a bigger one in about one hour. here's the port of new orleans. now, shell beach. and what's going on here in the lower ninth ward. the water's pouring in from lake here. we're now 9.3 feet above where we should be. that water is pouring in. with this kind of water, we

would have piled up water here and poured it into the ninth ward. that's exactly how it happened. with this hurricane, they have built a big wall to stop that. let's hope all these things work because there's a lot of moving parts. anderson. >> yeah, well, a lot of eyes are going to be on that levee system. $10 billion worth of levee protection and floodgates built over last seven years. more still to be built. let's check in with ed lavandera who is in grand isle. ed, you've been seeing the brunt of this storm so far. what does it look like? >> we're getting another one of those bands that are starting to push through again and intensify the situation here in grand isle. and as we sit here and talk to you, the rain is coming out of the north. as it swirls around the island here. in a matter of seconds, those cones on the north side of the island will become very difficult. what we've been trying to show

you is the surge that is coming out of the bay waters on to this island. making its way well on to the island as well, covering up some of the back roads as well. we've seen that slowly, slowly start making its way toward where we are. we anticipate that we'll continue to see that. you won't see that dissipate till the wind shifts again and blows everything back into the bay area. so we'll continue to monitor that. we've seen some light damage just over our shoulder here. some pieces of the roof. metal roof were starting to swirl off, dancing around like a piece of string, and was ripped off of that. and we know back over in this direction, this is the way out of the island. there are power lines that are down. as we try to make our way back over here to show you the north side of the island, this is the area where we'll continue to monitor as well. you can see a lot of the water starting to fillp this space

close to where we are. and we're expecting the storm surge, which had been forecasted to reach perhaps about seven feet here on grand isle, to fill up this area. and the main road that cuts through the island is just beyond those homes. we're on a ridge that is on the highest point the island. at some point, all of this will be covered in water as well. >> also want to check in with soledad o'brien, who is in jackson square in the french quarter. an area more protected with buildings. what's the rain, the wind been like down there, soledad? >> yeah, same thing. we're getting strong bands with heavy rain at times. right now, it seems calmer than it was. this is sort of tourist central in jackson square. most of the people are gone. got a couple of people hanging out. they've got rain slickers on. even though mayor landreau said he would prefer people stay indoors and don't risk going

outside. that's not the same as in plaquemine s parish where they have mandatory evacuations. they've got some 300 people who are in shelters there. one of the problems is with the gates, like a levee gate that failed, wouldn't close, so they had to take these hesco basket, these big giant mesh baskets, they fill them with sand, lay them down, then build a road over those baskets so they could get emergency gear in and out if they had to. kind of creating a mini levee. they did it over about seven hours. that was a big problem in plaquemines parish. big worry is the storm surge. that's what the people here are concerned about as they hunker down and wait for the bigger part of the storm to come through. anderson. >> and as you heard from chad myers, chad saying about an hour where we expect to see another strong band of of that storm hitting this area. we'll bring that to you live. big night ahead for the folks here in new orleans, from 12:00 to 8:00 a.m. chad myers saying pounding rain

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with a deep awareness of the reonsibility inferred by your trust, i accept your nomination for the presidency of the united states. >> this is america. a brilliant diversity. spread like stars. like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky. >> i call on every american to rise above all that may divide

us. >> they had their chance. they have not led. we will. >> fight with me. fight with me. fight for what's right for our country. >> announcer: this is cnn. here in tampa, we've watched mitt romney go over the top in the roll call of delegates. >> and now they are getting ready tonight to hear from his wife ann. all the while, a storm is closing in on new orleans. >> announcer: isaac lashes the gulf coast. a complication for republicans, as they nominate their presidential candidate. this is where mitt romney steps into the arena. this is where he gets his party's prize. a bruising primary battle behind him. and the fight of a lifetime ahead. >> we're going to stand for america and we're going to win! >> announcer: in tampa tonight, republicans try to reset the stage. sharpen their message.

define their candidate. and counter the democrats' attacks. >> we've heard this trickle-down fairy dust before. >> weiss got no new ideas for getting the economy going. >> it's like rockenhood in reverse. >> it's what the desperate looks like. >> it's romneyhood. >> taking things to a new low. >> announcer: after four years of obama, republicans over three days in tampa will change the game. but romney still has something to prove. >> this is an election about restoring the promise of america. >> announcer: to skeptics in his own party and independents taking their first hard look at the man, his record and his running mate. >> i'm excited for what lies ahead. i'm thrilled to be a part of america's comeback team. >> together, we're going to take back this country. thank you so very much, thank you! >> announcer: now, cnn turns the spotlight on one of the biggest

platforms in american politics. in a state where presidential elections are won. welcome to the republican national convention. it's your vote, your future, your country, your choice. >> we'd like to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, along with my cnn colleague erin burnett. we're here on the convention floor and they're all pumped up already, these republicans. >> they are. there's been some song, some country songs. one, "i built it," which has been one of the monikers of of this campaign. we're going to be hearing an from the man who gave mitt romney a very tough fight during the primary season tonight, among the many speaker, we'll hear from former u.s. senator

rick santorum. he's sitting just a few feet over to our left. we expect him to call for party unity. the delegates will hear from archer davis, a former democrat who has become a republican. south carolina governor nikki haley, one of the rising stars in the republican party, indian american, she got elected with the help of sarah palin and the tea party of course, wolf, tea party's role in this convention going to be very interesting to see. >> the republicans officially nominated mitt romney and his running mate paul ryan. now they'll hear from some of the party's biggest stars. candy crowley isver on the podium where she can watch the speakers come and go and talk to some of them. also, we have reporters on the scene. jim acosta, dana bash and john berman. they're all on the floor of the convention. they're speaking to delegates.

they're speaking to vips. we'll check in with all of them. i want to go to john berman now. what's going on where you are? >> wolf, i'm in the louisiana delegation right now. let me walk in here right now. this is bill and kay dora. they are from lake charles, louisiana, they have family in new orleans. you spoke to your brother today. your family doing okay? >> yeah, they're both fine, yeah. >> there's been a lot talk about whether it's appropriate at all for republicans to be having this convention tonight. do you feel like there's any issue there? >> i feel much better about being here this time. with the fact we've got great administrators and our mayor and our governor. i think the pumps are working in new orleans. think the police have been straightened out. i think there's a lot of things now that have been put in place to make it safer to be in new orleans. >> so this isn't inappropriate?

>> no, not at all. i feel very comfortable being here, knowing that my family's there and they're comfortable calling me. i had called, and they're fine. i'm fine being here. >> i do have to tell everyone here, bill dorey gave $2 million to rick santorum's super pac, the red, white and blue fund. your guy didn't win. any regrets? >> not at all. it wasn't the money so much as it was i cared about him, his family, his character. he's a great, great individual. and it turned out he wasn't the man but we got a good man in mitt romney and we're going to win it. >> your first man, rick santorum, is speaking tonight. best wishes to all of your family. all of the people in louisiana. >> i appreciate it, thank you very much. >> thanks for joining us. wolf. >> john berman on the floor. these floor reporters we have out there, they're going to be busy talking to peep oople out there, getting a little flavor what's going on.

>> people can get a sense how fluid it is. it's very, very busy. dana bash now. dana, where are you? >> i am standing in -- next to the -- forgive me, they just started to sing "amazing grace." let me toss back to the booth, i don't want to be disrespectful. >> we can listen to "amazing grace." let's listen to them present this song. ♪ i once was lost ♪ but now i'm found ♪ was blind ♪ but now i see ♪ 'twas grace that taught my heart to fear ♪ ♪ and grace my fears release

♪ how precious did that grace appear ♪ the hour i first believed ♪ ♪ when we've been there 10,000 years ♪ ♪ bright shining as the sun ♪ we've no lessays to sing god's praise than when we'd first begun ♪

>> god bless! [ applause ] >> the oak ridge boys performing "amazing grace." appropriately enough on a night like this, with what's happening on the gulf coast. anderson, what's happening now? >> we got word isaac has made landfall. i want to quickly go to chad myers in the severe weather center. chad, at what point did it make landfall and where? >> really, land and fall down across the mississippi delta is an oxymoron. it's a part of the delta where just the sludge that comes out of the mississippi river gets poured down in here before it gets into the gulf of mexico. but there's one little west arm down there that the center did pass over. obviously, not a road down there, nobody lives down there, it's just the last thing you see before you hit the gulf of

mexico with your boat. yes, it did cross right there. it will be crossing not that far. not maybe ten miles just to the east of eddie lavandera and that's where that heaviest wind will be for the next hour moving closer and closer to you. the map behind me describes how much rainfall everybody's going to get. not only surge but every white spot from mississippi all the way over to just west of baton rouge. that's 10 to 15 inches of rain. and all that rain has to run off somewhere, anderson. >> yeah, it sure does. i'm here with meteorologist rob marciano. even though this is not a huge wind event. even though the speed of the wind is low compared to some of the hurricanes we've been see, it is still very dangerous to be outside. we picked this area by the port frankly because there's not a lot of possibility for debris around here. the side of this building, the part of the siding is already looking like it's going to fly off. so we're keeping a close eye on

that. about with rob, it really does give you a sense of just even a low level wind speed can, over time, goes long enough, can wear things away. >> that's the key with thi storm. it's moving so slowly. much slower than ckatrina was. it's that constant pounding of the wind. sheet metal like that, they're going to take some pressure here over the next really 18 hours. chad mentioned the storm made landfall. it's about the 60 miles out as the crow flies from new orleans. this thing is moving -- that center of circulation gets to new orleans, and then behind it, there's still significant weather. this a long duration event. i think that's what it's going to be remembered for. >> it's also the worst possible timing for the worst possible storm, between midnight and 8:00 a.m., in darkness, when you have the worst storm, the worst part of the winds. you don't see ways coming, what's flying around. >> obviously. that, the darkness, in the

unknown, what's going on. certainly will be an issue. probably when power outages will happen as well. the questions of the surge and the levees, will they hold, and will those pumps continue to do their thing as rain comes down. >> we keep looking at this building. wondering as it makes some creaking noises and we're getting a gust here. we'll have more from our correspondents throughout the region. for now, let's go back to wolf. >> anderson, thanks very much. rob, thank, to you as well. we interrupted dana bash. she was about to tell us what was going on but we heard a beautiful rendition of "amazing grace" by the oak ridge boys. >> i wanted to tell you a little bit about what i'm hearing that the new jersey governor chris christie is going to say tonight. he of course is the keynote speaker this evening. a lot of discussion has been going on about the fact that he certainly can throw some punch, but i'm told, as i first

reported last night, it's probably going to be more positive in tone. he's going to argue that the american people can handle the truth. and that they need to treat people like adults. he's also going to outline the party's differences in philosophy and the philosophy of governance. and talk about the fact that the republican party believes that the american people are ready for the truth and that they should be trusted with their instincts and their motivations. the other thing is of course the new jersey governor is a republican in a blue state. so he is going to talk about some of his experiences in new jersey. bipartisanship and get things done. even though it is very tough for a republican to do anything in a democratic state. he's going to talk about solutions, for example, his experience with the pension benefit reform. the last thing i'm told he's going to do is he's going to argue that the republican party should focus more on the power of ideas than on rhetoric. i was told that some of us might

be surprised that there isn't more red meat in this speech, vis-a-vis barack obama. we'll see later this evening. >> all right, thanks very much to dana. >> thank you. dana's going to be busy. all of these guys are going to be very busy. we're watching what's going on. >> up on the podium, we're getting a sense of what ann romney, chris christie, might say later tonight in the crucial addresses they're going to be giving in the 10:00 hour. candy what can you tell us about those speeches? >> erin, you know, if this is the beginning of writing the chapter on miss romney through the eyes of friends and family, then she is the first paragraph. we've seen some excerpts from her speech. a very personal look at her marriage and the man she has come to know. there seems to be a theme throughout, this is the man to

run the country, this is the man who can fix the economy. from a personal point of view, at one point, one of the exce t excerpts, she said, people talk about our storybook marriage but i never read a storybook that talked about five screaming children on rainy day about m.s., which she has, about breast cancer, which she also fought. she said, we're just a real american family. so this is just the beginning of saying, look, we are -- we have problems just like you do. that kind of attempt to get beyond what has really defined mitt romney till now, and that has been the fact that he's a very wealthy man. some people, certainly in the polling shows, that people are having a difficult time warming up to him. they don't see him -- in our latest cnn/rnc poll, they don't see him as being able to relate to people. they don't think he -- they think barack obama is the person who relates better to the middle class. they think barack obama is the person who relates better to

people in general. so that's something he has to overcome. and she is the beginning of that effort here at this convention. >> all right, thanks very much to candy crowley. wolf, you've been a part of that, talking to the five romney boys, who are trying to give you a sense of their dad, a human sense. >> another rising star in the republican party, senator kelly ayotte, is speaking right now from new hampshire. i want to listen in. >> -- with rules, regulations and red tape. from the national labor relations board to the department of labor to the epa, under this administration, the regulations are up and the job creation is down. president obama's view is clear. he actually believes that as a small business grows, the federal government should take a

larger and larger share of its earnings. that's punishment for expanding and creating more jobs. i call it a success tax. and, you know, the very best example is obama care. and let me tell you what i hear in the real world about obama care. just a couple of months ago, a successful restaurant owner in concord, new hampshire, told me about his dilemma. he wanted to open up a second restaurant and hire more employees. but you know what, he realized that if he did, he would trigger penalties under obama care. and he couldn't afford it. so he never opened up that restaurant. is that what we want for small

businesses in america? no. to be afraid to grow because of the government. to face penalties when you create more jobs? to be told you're earning too much? isn't it time that we had a leader who believes that creating jobs ought to be celebrated, not penalized. that is why mitt romney is running for president. [ applause ] all right, kelly aye yotte, the republican, from new hampshire. during tonight's roll call, republican officials did do something that clearly snubbed congressman ron paul of texas,

by refusing to read his vote totals from the podium. stay with us. we're about to get reaction from his son, the united states senator from kentucky, rand paul. we'll also get an update on the hurricane which is really beginning to pound. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. covering 2,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon.

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>>om bac to continuing coverage of hurrican isaac which has now made landfall aroundqula parish, which has a dust to dawn curfew. it is starting to get dark here

in new orleans, alon thport area of new orleans. i want to take you to grand isle where ed lavanda is di ining by. ed, what are you seeing down there? >> we are struggling to bring you this shot here over the last few minutes. this is definitely the most intense part of this storm we've experienced all day. we've been talking about storm surge. we are on the second floor of a home here in the middle of grand isle. when you talk about storm surge, this is what we're talking about. this is water that is being pushed in underneath the houses. we're about four blocks away from the bay side of this island. just look below us here. the water is rushing underneath the home and behind on the back side of this house where we're at here on grand isle. anderson, i'm struggling to come up with words to be able to describe just how loud and how intense the foreroshsness and the loudness of the winds we're

experiencing now is. you can hear this roaring sound over your head. the clouds are so low. now it's getting dark here and it's almost hard to be able to make all of this out at this point. the clouds are so low, it feels like you can reach up and grab them. the intensity here of this hurricane now is intense as we've seen all day. we've already known that there are power lines. we can hardly see anything. as you look out into the darkness here. as night is starting to fall. which makes this even more disconcerting because you don't know what's flying around here. the wind gusts have been taking a toll on many of the structures around here. you anticipate that at some point there will be pieces of metal roofing, what have you, that will begin to fly off, so those are one of the concerns. this is an incredibly intense storm we're feeling right now, anderson. >> and, again, ed, as it becomes dark, that's when it really gets scary for being tos afolks arou because you don't know what's

flying around in terms of debris and you rely can't see it. >> no, you know, you're trying at least to be able to hear something that's flying around. that's why i brought up just how loud the wind is right now. it keeps you from being able to hear and figure out where various sounds are coming from. we're hunkered down on the side of the house which has given us a decent amount of protection. but as you can see as the wind and the rain blows through here just how intense it is. and how ferocious it is quite frankly. what has really surprised me is just you can see the storm surge and the power with which this water is starting to blow up underneath this house. we're at a safe distance here and the depth of the water isn't that troubling but you can really get a sense of just how quickly it's moving and the poushgs the wind, is what moves this storm surge and this water into the island. like i said, we are four block, away from the bay side, the north side, of this island.

and you can see this water's just rushing rapidly. and we can see it rising in many parts around us right here in the middle of this home we're at right now, anderson. >> ed, i want to bring in chad myers in just a moment, but i just wanted you to see what we're seeing here. you try to see how quick the wind is moving and the rain. you can see a little bit on the reflection just on the ground right by our satellite truck and the satellite truck is pushed against the wall there. we parked it there so there is a shift in wind, that satellite dish doesn't act like a sail and literally if it's in the wrong location it can get picked up by the wind and literally flipped over, so that's why you try to find a location where there's not going to be a lot of debris and where the satellite truck can be protected usually by one strong wall. chad myers, where -- can you show us the big picture of where ed lavandera is and what he's experiencing? >> yes, ed is right in the northern part of the eye wall. try to get another inner eye

wall forming here. it's had a very hard time getting the inner eye wall. when it does form, i assume it still will, we have a good ten hours before it hits true land. remember, all it's hitting down there now is bayou. here's where eddie lavandera is right now. will eventually get right here, the center of the eye, will get completely call, and then eddie will get this wind coming from a different direction at an equal speed, if not more. anderson, you are up to the north. you are right there. you are -- next band is ten minutes away and you are going to get slammed. this band right here will have 50 to 70-mile-per-hour wind gusts in it. that's new orleans proper. our own soledad o'brien will get that in about five minutes. you need to take precautions if that building by you is, indeed, coming apart. it made landfall on that little spit of land. part of the mississippi delta itself. ed lavandera right there.

this is now becoming a more intense storm because the eye is beginning to form in a smaller circle. think about an ice skater with her arm, out. one foot on the ground skating. she spins very slowly. when she pulls her arms in and begins to do that spin, that spin is angular momentum, and that spin goes muchaster when her arms are in. this hurricane is now pulling its arms in. wind gusts to 106 miles per hour just reported off the coast at an oil rig. anderson. >> so, chad, when you say this band that's going to come you say in about ten minutes, going to hit us hard, you say 50 to 70 mile per hour winds, what are the winds right now? how much more is it going to go up in ten minutes? >> you are not more than 25 miles per hour with the gusts of 35 so your winds will double. >> okay. so that's going to be a significant shift in about ten minutes. we'll try to bring that to you

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being a great job creator. secondly, he was a great governor. he went from billions of dollars in the hole when he became governor to billions of dollars in surplus when he left. and he went from the loss of tens of thousands of jobs when he became governor to the creation of 40,000 new jobs when he left office. and he did it in tax-assachusets of all places, okay. and remember this, beyond his work in business and beyond his work in government, he's a natural leader. he took those salt lake city winter olympics and took them when they were in peril and headed down the drain. he fixed the olympics and made every american proud of what he did in salt lake city and built a shinier and brighter america as a result. folks, i want to tell you this, joe biden disputes a lot of

those facts. but joe biden told me that he was a good golfer. and i've played golf with joe biden. i can tell you that's not true, as well as a lot of the other things he says. folks, for the good of our kids, i know we're at a republican n conventi convention, but this is not about republican and democrat, this is about somebody that's going to get this country moving again. restore the strength of our country. energize the people. set them free in a free enterprise system. that's what this is all about. it is about our children. it is about our families. it is about our country. and, frankly, ladies and gentlemen, it's about the world. because even though they don't want to admit it, they depend on the united states of america to lead and to bring moral purpose to the globe. ladies and gentlemen, we got to leave here and march and get to everybody to make sure that mitt romney and paul ryan, our president and vice president of the united states! thank you all very much!

[ cheers and applause ] >> okay, john kasich, the ohio governor, getting the crowd going here. we're here on the floor of the republican national convention. tonight's roll call, which you saw live here on cnn, among other thing, republican officials clearly snubbed texas congressman ron paul by refusing to read aloud his vote totals from the podium. with us now is the congressman's son, united states senator rand paul of kentucky. senator paul, i got to tell you -- and i like your dad. you love your dad but like him a lot. i was pretty shocked to hear that they wouldn't even read from the podium how many votes congressman paul got. >> one of the interesting things is the crowd was reciting how much they got. when they wouldn't announce it from the podium, you would hear an echo from the crowd of the ron paul supporters who were announcing his totals. >> why would they do that? it seems so petty and ridicul s

ridiculous. your father worked hard in the republican party. i believe he didn't do anything illegal in getting those votes. he went through the process. he worked hard. he's in the a young guy he's not a young guy. and they wouldn't even give them the courtesy. >> it's been a mixed bag. many things the romney campaign has been conciliatory on. we've worked hard and with them on the platform. we've gotten many things we wanted in the platform. one of my dad's signature issues has been audit the fed. that's part of the republican platform now. one of the things i talked about is drones shouldn't be crisscrossing american citizens' property and cities without warrants. that's now into the platform. protections against unreasonable search and seizure we've gotten into the platform. declaration of war. so we won a lot of battles. you don't win all the battles. there were some compromises on what delegates would be seated. some of the delegat on my dad's side still weren't happy. but i think we did win some

bodies. so i don't see it all as bad. i also see the future of the republican party is they need to embrace libertarians. because there's much of the country we're not winning in. we're not winning in california or new england. maybe they'd embrace more of the ideas of the ron paul fans. >> your dad's retiring from congress. he's not going to run anymore. he had said this is the last time he's running for president of the united states. i just thought it was inappropriate to end his politicalcareer, if you will, on a note like this, before his own party. >> it could have always been better. we would have loved him to speak here also. there's a little bit of movement each way. i mean, he was asked to give an overt endorsement and he wasn't quite there -- >> he was invited to speak but they wanted to clear his speech in advance. they wanted to vet it. >> right. >> and he said no, he's not ready to do that. was that appropriate, to tell someone like ron paul, you can speak, but we will edit, we will make sure that what you say is something we want to hear? >> in the end, he did get to speak here in tampa. we had our own rally.

>> but not at the convention. >> but he got to speak for an entire hour, got to say whatever he wanted to say. and his message still gets out there. really what's incumbent upon the republican, it's not so much about the speech here it's whether or not we want to get bigger as a party and whether we want to win in places where we're not winning. we're not winning in new england. we're not winning on the west coast. we're not winning illinois most of the time. we give up 150 electoral votes. if we want to be in play with those, a lot libertarian ideas appeal toindependents and moderates. a poll late in the campaign, when ron paul had no chance, he was still polling virtually even with president obama because he does well with independents and moderates. >> you wholeheartedly endorse mitt romney and paul ryan, right? >> yes. >> your father says he can't do that. >> i support them because i think they're way better, no question -- i don't know that our country really survives four more years of all the

regulations that we're getting and the debt. >> that's a little harsh, survive? >> oh, it is -- >> wait a second, wait a second. if president obama is re-elected, you think the united states of america, in four years, will not be the united states of america? >> i'm worried about our currency not just because of this president from 40 years of deficit spending but it's accelerating. i'm worried if we're on this pace, it's an exponential curve we're looking at of accumulating debt, that there is a danger to the currency. i'm not talking really apocalyptic terms but i am concerned that you don't always know when a currency fails. 2008 was a panic. that was preobama. we're not blaming it on obama. it's our country, republicans and democrats, have been looting the treasury. it's getting worse. >> you acknowledge rican are big spenders as wel >> absolutely. cut the defense budget. you're not goingo lot of people here say the defense department should be cut. >> you might -- >> we'll hear it from you -- --he speech tomorrow

night -- >> we'll hear it from your father. he once tead up with brney frank to cut that defense spending. in the platrm, mi rom he's not saying cut dfense spending. >> no, but i always try to look. we worked on audit the fed for four years. we're starting audit the pentagon. we have i think four republicans and four democrats. i think joe manchin's on it. claire mccaskill may be on it. people on both sides saying the pentagon can't tell the american taxpayer they're too big to be audited. >> are you with paul ryan when he wts to do a voucher system for medicare? >> go on spfurther. i would gve every senr citizen the same health care plan that ihave. the congressional health care plan. and itwouldsave $1 trillion over ten years. but i'd do it now. i'd just say immediately you get a better plan then you've ever had. it's the federal health care plan. it is subsidized. there's no more money out of pocket. and this is what you get. all your congressman have it.

it's great. i would give it to all senior citizens immediately. >> senator paul, thanks very much for coming in. tell your dad i want to speak to him maybe tomorrow if he's got some time. he's going to be here, right? >> i'm not sure, but i'll ask. >> thanks very much. senator paul, thanks very much for coming in. jim acosta's standing by. he's got a special guest as well. jim, where are you? >> i'm right next to the maryland delegation but i'm actually standing here with the former speaker of the house, from georgia, newt gingrich, wolf. thank you, mr. speaker, for joining us for just a few minutes. let me ask you something. you went toe-to-toe with mitt romney. it was a bruising process. his wife's about to come here tonight, make this big speech. he'll come out on thursday night. is this mitt romney's republican party now? >> well, i think he's certainly the leader of the republican party. i think he's earned that the hard way. he spent six years running for president. he took a tough defeat in 2000. he turned around and kept coming. i tell people i threw the kitchen sink at him. turned out that he had a bigger

kitchen so he threw a bigger sink at me. i have great respect for him and what he's doing. and i believe he'll be a very, very formidable president. i actually believe he's going to win this election decisively. >> let me ask you about some of this ron paul stuff that broke out here on the convention floor. is that good for your party? >> i think what happened was some of the guys got heavy handed in the rules committee. they unnecessarily caused a confrontation. the minute they understood that's what happened, they changed, they got to a compromise, it was all taken care of. i wouldn't overread it. >> you released your delegates. >> sure. >> aren't you asking the question why didn't ron paul? >> fundamental difference. ron paul has run on an ideological basis for virtually his entire lifetime. he sincerely deeply believes in the thing hgs things he believes in. so it's much harder for him to say he's going to do something. i'm a party loyalist. in georgia, building the modern

republican party. i want us to get together to beat barack obama. you know, i think rand paul is going to indicate quite clearly he is for beating -- i think rand paul is going to help bring all of the -- 90% of the rand paul people will be with romney and the other 10% will probably sit it out. >> the theme tonight is "we built it." it's on the walls here. the obama campaign says, hey, wait a minute, you took that out of context. that's taken out o context. >> i think that's such total baloney. we did a thing at newt university today. people can see it at newtuniversity.com. we showed you what he said. obama clearly was denigrating the work ethic. denigrating the effort of individual business -- >> wasn't he talking about you need roads, you need bridges, get the supplies to your business? >> no, you don't say to somebody, you don't think you work hard -- what does this have to do with roads? this president is pathetically dishonest however and over it the only person who

out-dishonests him is joe biden who's hopeless. he was giving a straight socialist baloney. you, if you went out and worked hard -- >> you really think the president's a socialist? >> i will show you this, of course he is. i don't see how you can have another serious interpretation of it. this president would like government to run everything -- >> name one thing the government has taken over, mr. speaker. >> well, the government today increasingly runs the banks. the government today increasingly runs the to industry -- >> -- the bush administration -- >> no, a lot of the implementation is under obama. obama is increasingly encroaching on the energy industry. obama, every time you turn around, they took over the student loan program. it's now a government-run program. every time you turn around, obama adds something new to government. either through bureaucratic socialism where you get to keep your companies, just they run it. or through direct takeover. >> thank you, mr. speaker, i'm going to toss it back to you,

wolf. the speaker never at a loss for words. >> i've known him for a long time and he's always been blunt. all right, jim acosta, thanks. also, we're following the other big story tonight. hurricane isaac made landfall near the mouth of the mississippi river in louisiana. and the worst of it is about to hit. our correspondents, including our colleague anderson cooper, they are all standing by live. we're going to check in with them in lap la whouisiana la whe come back. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet?

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continuing coverage of hurricane isaac. i'm here with cnn meteorologist rob marciano. chad myers talked about a strong band coming in ten minutes. i think we are in that now. >> the last ten minutes was pretty harrowing. we had winds gust to tropical storm force and rain was coming down in sheets, 2 to 3 inches an hour. it's this type of heavy rainfall they're worried about, that those pumps can't handle. >> you forget how much rain, how much water just pours down over the course of even a few minutes. >> it is hard to get your head around. in some times, it's 3 to 4 inches an hour. during the squad that was really bad, i saw some power flash. now we're starting to get into the part of the storm where the winds are strong enough to be knocking out some power. we're just about to get into the bad part here in new orleans. >> we've lost contact with ed

lavandera. i want to check in with chad myers. how's it look? >> the big picture is the squall you're in now will literally last for more than an hour. it is a very wide squall. it is coming out of the center of the circulation in a spiral band. you're in the outer bands now. and in the next four or five hours, you may get to the inner bands, but the storm is back over water. the big story is it made landfall. it made landfall over a spit of land that was part of the mississippi river. back over water now. it will continue to gain strength. because literally there's no real land there. there's no "there" there. so right there is that little spit of land that was the mississippi river. the line went right over the end of it. back over water now. our eddie lavendera is right there. grand isle, winds gusting at 76 miles per hour. probably by 3:00, they'll begin to calm down.

if you're in new orleans proper, you will actually see winds in those high-rise buildings much higher than 80 miles per hour. because we saw a wind gust to 106 miles per hour at 270 feet at an oil daerrick out in the gulf. easily over 100 miles per hour on top of these buildings. most of them ready to take that abuse. windows have been upgraded from what was the katrina debacle there with some of those windows being blown out. sometimes you get stone and tar, the tops of the roofs is just stone and tar, those stones can be dislodged and fly around like little bullets, just shooting out windows. so that's always a possibility. water's piling up into lake bourne. the surge there is 9.8 feet. i see you guys are still being pounded by that rain, anderson. >> chad, just very briefly, you

say the worst still hours away? >> absolutely. you have this band for an hour. it will stop. and another more terrific band or horrific band will begin after that. you're going to see this type of weather all the way to 4:00 in the morning, maybe even 8:00 in the morning. right now, 100,000 people in louisiana are without power. >> yeah, chad, you couldn't hear what chad was saying, but he's basically saying this kind of storm about 4:00 a.m. and flashes in the distance too. >> yeah, power flashes, so we're not even into the heart of it as far as new orleans is concerned. skirting the coastline like that, so this right front quadrant we're in, it's going to make it harrowing. both with the wind an the rain. >> what has it been reading? >> tropical storm force, 39 miles an hour. you talk about not having been in a hurricane for a couple

years. you forget it's difficult to stand in winds over 50 miles an hour. if we're saying it's hurricane force winds and we're standing like this, hurricane winds will blow you over in a heartbeat, extremely difficult to stand in. >> we'll have coverage all night long and all tomorrow unfortunately as well. this is a long storm. this is a marathon, not a sprint. let's check back in with erin in tampa. erin. >> all right, anderson, it already looks pretty grim there. the winds will get so much worse than they are right now. in just a few minutes, we'll hear from former senator rick santorum. we expect him to call for party unity. remember, he won 11 states back in the primaries. despite that bruising primary battle, he is now firmly in romney's camp. till his speech convince the party's social conservatives to get on board with passion? stay right there.

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welcome back to tampa. i'm john king up at the cnn sky box. in the hour ahead, rick santorum, he's the former senator from pennsylvania who came closest to blocking romney's path to the nomination. he will speak tonight. then at 10:00, the keynote speech from the new jersey governor chris christie, and ann romney addresses the american people to talk about the personal side of her husband. i want to use the magic wall to show you. we heard earlier from senator kelly ayotte of new hampshire. the governor of virginia, bob

mcdonnell spoke. the hall is about to hear from scott walker, governor of wisconsin. and later tonight, brian sanibel, the governor of nevada. all states obama carried four years ago. important target for the romney campaign. nevada, wisconsin, new hampshire. let's come to the projection right now. show you why those states are so important. new hampshire, virginia, ohio, wisconsin and nevada. among the big toss-up states. the key targets for romney as he picks targets for the convention here to drive coverage back home in those states. as he tries to get to the magic number of 270 to win the white house. let me walk over to our booth here. david gergen, gloria borger, donna brazile. a lot of people say these are dinosaurs and we don't need them anymore.

when you do this, state by state targeting, does it really help? is there something one of those senators says tonight that helps turn the state back home? >> it's tough to make the case. it's a news spike they can take back home. a lot of people watch this convention, not tonight, but over the next week, in the news bites and the news that comes out of it. if you can generate a good two, three, four days from a convention like this, convent n conventionings are not organizational vehicles anymore, they're communication speeches. >> i think it's very important for mitt romney. the obama campaign has a great ground game. they were famous for it four years ago. when you have governors, you've got a lot of apparatus in place. that's going to be very, very useful. particularly, you know, look at a state like wisconsin. which mitt romney's polster was telling me earlier they believe

is really in play because paul ryan, well, you've got a republican governor that can help make the difference. >> a very big hour ahead. rick santorum in the 9:00 hour. chris christie in the 10:00 hour. our coverage continues in a moment. i accept your nomination for the presidency of the united states. >> this is america. a brilliant diversity. spread like stars. like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky. >> i call on every american to rise above all that may divide us. >> they had their chance. they have not led. we will. >> fight with me. fight with me. fight for what's right for our country. >> announcer: this is cnn. >> i'm anderson cooper live in new orleans where hurricane isaac is intensifying but the

worst is yet to come. >> and the storm's definitely on the minds of delegates here at the republican national convention. as they get ready to hear from tonight's featured speakers. >> the republican convention is finally under way. >> this convention will come to order. >> under the cloud of isaac's lashing of the gulf coast. party leaders are watching isaac and the tone of their celebration as the build-up begins for mitt romney to accept the republican nomination. >> nine delegates -- >> for the next president of the united states, mitt romney! >> in tampa tonight, the woman who could be the next first lady in prime time. >> we're not going to take it anymore. we're taking the white house back. >> ann romney is ready to take the stage and address her husband's weak spot. can she show voters sides of his personality she sees? >> he is as loose and

spontaneous as you'd ever want to see and just so much fun to be with. >> governor chris christie. his speech should be vintage christie laced with humor and bite. >> -- the president is going to come on the air to talk about the economy. i said, what the heck, i got ten minutes to waste, why not. >> now, cnn turns the spotlight on one of the biggest platforms in american politics. in a state where presidential elections are won and lost. >> florida, i'm counting on you to help me win in november! >> welcome to the republican national convention. it's your vote, your future, your country, your choice. >> look at this, the skyline of beautiful tampa, florida.

we'd like to welcome our viewers from the united states and around the world. welcome to this republican national convention in tampa. where just over an hour away from one of tonight's highlights, a speech by ann romney. i'm wolf blitzer, along with my cnn colleague erin burnett. we're watching everything that's going on. the next two hours, going to be very exciting at this convention. >> this is really the heart of tonight's activities. it's going to happen over the next two hours. let's go through what's coming up in the next 60 minutes. we'll hear from former senator rick santorum. that's a speech a lot people are looking forward to that was a fiery opponent in the primaries. we expect his speech to be a call for social conservatives to get on board, to unite behind mitt romney. we're also going to be hearing from former congressman artur davis. he spoke at the democratic convention in '08. it's a big win to get someone to switch parties. he's going to ask his supporters to get on board and do the same. also ahead, we'll hear from one of the republicans rising stars.

that is south carolina's governor nikki haley. she's young, she's only 40 years old, very energetic. that governor will be speaking this hour. along the gulf coast, all eyes are on hurricane isaac which has started to make landfall as the winds are picking up. it looks like it's absolute horrible there. although anderson says still not hurricane force winds where you are, anderson. >> that's true. as chad pointed out, the worst is yet to come. we're anticipating hours and hours of this. from midnight to 8:00 a.m., chad, believing the worst will be. but, again, the winds, the rain has picked up. i want to check in with ed lavandera. we've re-established contact. he's in grand isle. ed, what's the situation there? >> hey, anderson. we're holding up as best as we can here in grand isle. the winds -- i think we were talking earlier, the loudness and the ferociousness of the

winds coming through here is just really hard to describe. as the night has fallen, it is so dark. you at least want to be able to see if there's any debris swirling around you. we're well buffered here next to the home, but it's so dark you can't see beyond the lights. we've tried to put some lights here to give people a sense of the storm surge we've been talking about and what the concern has been. and you can see just how powerful the wind is and what it can do and how it can move water. this is water that is coming from the bay side, the north side of grand isle, the barrier island we're on. it stretches about seven miles long and about a half mile wide. the wind through most of the day has been coming in severely from the northern side of the island. this is the water that has started to rush up. this is why we're up here at this higher vantage point, to protect ourselves from this.

we're told the eye of the storm is perhaps coming either very close to us or right over us. which would come as welcome news because this is -- we've been enduring these winds for several hours now. and the eye of the storm will be a welcome respite for all this, to be able to settle down and catch our breath. and have the conditions and the weather conditions here settle down a little bit. so fingers crossed we can get a little bit of the eye of that storm to come over us, to give us a little bit of a break, to get a sense of how much damage we're seeing around this area. at this point, it's almost impossible to tell it a few homes of people who have not evacuated. they still have generators on. one of the emergency officials had a home that was powered up over here but that person has left. a couple of other people, you can see lights flickering in the distance. a treacherous night here we're dealing with. anderson.

>> ed, be careful. we'll continue to check in with you. the rain is really starting to -- you get that stinging rain as the wind is picking up. >> 30, 40, 50 mile an hour, at times, it's quite painful. earlier, we saw it flowing the wrong way. because of the way the storm is set up. the river's very low because of the drought. some people are going to get some beneficial rain. but the rainfall that's coming down now is piling up in the streets of new orleans, no doubt about that, and those pumps are working overtime to get them -- get that rain water out, over on the other side of the levee. it's a fascinating city, and the way they've attacked it to try to protect it on both sides. the storm surge and the rainfall that's coming in now. we're going to be in it for the long haul for sure.

>> some $10 billion to improve levees over the last seven years. soledad o'brien is in the heart of the french quarter. are you seeing much water on the ground there? >> yeah, a little bit pooling. really not that much considering all the rain we've had here. the wind has picked up. it's obviously raining harder than it was. for a little while, folks have been coming out, but they have all gone away as the weather's gotten worse. you know, we took a look at one of those big $1 billion projects, this big wall to block the storm surge. to build this wall, it's two miles long, and the goal of course is to make sure the same thing doesn't happen that happeneded in katrina, which is water running right into the city, the storm surge essentially taking over in the lower ninth ward. the city of new orleans, even st. bernard parish being hit by the storage surge.

so blocking it with big channels, big gates that can close. because i think that's a big concern for people here. right now, it seems every time chad myers tells us there's going to be a band, no joke, we get another big band coming through. we're in the middle of what's been deteriorating weather and we're expecting that it's going to stay this way for a little while. >> it is amazing, chad, and soledad brings up the point, how well you can predict, you know, five minutes from now a band is going to hitnd sure enough it happens. >> yeah, it's on radar. the radar's worked fabulous, anderson. we have a lot of rain coming for you. honestly, you are not going to get out of this very large area of green and yellow for quite some time. this is going to rotate at you for at least another hour, maybe longer. you may not get out of this at all till you get close to the eye. eddie's actually in between bands. this is the northern eye wall. that's the inner eye wall that

eddie will get. it will be the worst weather he gets all night. then he will get to that. that right there is the eye of isaac. it's going to move right on up to the nth and right into -- west of you, into baton rouge. everybody thinks baton rouge is so far inland, there's no problem. there's no inland for most of the way to baton rouge. it's the bayou. the bayou does not slow down a hurricane. the same way the bayou -- or the everglades didn't slow down wilma as it smacked across from the west and then hit ft. lauderdale. the everglades are not land. there's more water than land. the bayou is not land. there's more water than land. this storm continues to get bigger for at least the next ten hours. anderson. >> wow, that's depressing. i had water -- i got water everywhere and so i got water in my ear. i couldn't hear what you said when is the eye wall, the worst part, going to hit new orleans? >> i would say somewhere between 4:00 and 8:00 a.m. the hurricane hunters have it

moving northwest at 8 miles per hour. it seems to me like it might be closer to 10. so if you're 100 miles away, you're probably somewhere between 90 and 100 from the eye, the center of the eye, that's somewhere between 9 and 10 hours from now. that's the closest approach. the approach will probably take it west of mettere. not right through downtown new orleans. what you're going to get is the worst part of the eye. you get the eastern eye wall. which means you get the forward motion. plus you get the 70, 80, maybe 90 per hour gusts. and that comes in around -- between 4:00 and 8:00 in the morning. it will be a tough night for everyone. people stayed in new orleans, they told them, it's going to be a tough night, the wind is coming. >> chad is saying 9 to 10 hours till the worst of the eye wall, that eastern part, hits. >> it's even slower than we

thought. and that's going to be the m.o. of this storm. a long duration event. even though it doesn't have winds of a category 2 or 3 storm, when you have hurricane force winds that are battering any structure, especially city structures and -- let's not forget some of the skyscrapers. you go up 30 floors in a skyscraper, that basically increases your category of a hurricane by 1. instead of this being a category 1 coming on shore, the higher sky scapers in new orleans proper, it will feel and react more like a category 2. and just in the last 30 minutes we've been seeing power flashes. and that's going to start to accelerate. we'll start to see lights out. >> it's going to be a long night ahead for all the folks. we're going to be bringing it to you live all evening long. let's check back in with erin and wolf. >> all right, guys, be careful over there. we'll stay in constant touch

with all of you. you're doing an amazing, amazing job. also in tampa, standing by for some of the most important speeches. >> it's beginning in a moment. former senator rick santorum, who as we all know tried his best, sort of came from nowhere and became the real block to mitt romney's path to nomination, he's about to stand in front of the delegates and stand behind his man now mitt romney. it's next. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac.

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look at this, live picture to the tampa bay times forum. outside. inside, they're getting ready to

hear from former senator rick santorum. dana bash is on the the floor with a special guest ready to set up his speech. dana, what are you seeing? >> who better to set up this speech of rick santorum than his wife and the santorum clan actually here. karen santorum is here. how do you feel? i followed you all on the campaign trail for weeks and months. must be a little bittersweet. >> it was always so great to see you, by the way. you know what, this is great. i mean, this is so exciting. to feel the energy and enthusiasm in this room, i'm just so excited. the thought of america getting back to our founding principles, to freedom and liberty and what we're all about. i'm really excited. so it's great to be here and see so many friends. we're having a great time. >> good to be here and see so many friends but obviously you've worked very, very hard. all of you worked very hard. >> yeah, yeah, we did. >> so instead of ann romney speaking tonight, it would be you speaking tonight. >> yeah, and that's okay. we ran the race. we ran a great race.

i was so proud of rick. i mean, to win 11 states and almost 4 million votes was amazing. at the same time, we're fine, you know, we lost, it's okay, and we're so proud of ann and mitt romney. they're doing a great job and we're really rooting for them. >> have you established any kind of relationship with the romneys, as time has gone forward? >> not yet, though but i would love to so -- >> what should we expect to hear from your husband tonight? there's a lot of anticipation because it was a tough race between the two of them. >> he wrote our speech and it goes a lot to our founding principles, to welfare reform, to the basic root of what we are, with faith and family, and that really goes to the core of his message. >> he's probably going to speak soon. i can't let you go without asking about your sweet daughter bella who everybody was following during the primary campaign. >> she's doing great. she has succeeded every expectation. she's the most joyful happy child. i want to say hi to my son john who i think is watching. >> i'm going to wrap up here because i think your husband is

going to take the stage very soon and i know you don't want to step on that. thank you, all. back to you, wolf. >> dana, thanks very much. not many republican presidential candidates have been invited to speak in prime time here at this convention. rick santorum is one of them. ron paul we know didn't do it, herman cain didn't do it, michelle bachmann hasn't done it. newt gingrich had a brief speech. rick santorum is clearly someone they want to unify this party. >> it's amazing because they were such fierce rivals during the primary. we were covering it. and now to have him be the one here speaking. his family, it's interesting, you look at them and you see what a tight-knit family it is. you also think about rick santorum and how warm he is, wolf, remember when he would interact with you or see people on the trail, that warmth, that natural political style. >> gloria borger and david gergen are watching and waiting for rick santorum as well. gloria, first to you, what do you expect we'll hear? >> i expect rick santorum is

going to talk to evangelical voters this evening. he's going to let evangelical voters know it's okay to vote for mitt romney. this is very, very important speech for mitt romney. because of course those are the people who were following san tomorrow. so devoted to santorum. not only do they have doubts about mitt romney's mormonism but lots have doubts on him about the cultural issues. what's interesting to me, since santorum and romney have never appeared together on the stage -- >> here he is, rick santorum is about to speak. so let's listen in. former republican presidential candidate. >> thank you, thank you very much, thanks. thank you. thank you. it is -- thank you. bless you. thank you. thank you, pennsylvania. it is a great honor for me to be here tonight. with the love of my wife, karen,

over here, and -- my 93-year-old mother. from florida. and some of our children. my oldest son, john, wanted to be here tonight, but he's a first-year cadet at the citadel -- [ applause ] and -- so i just want to say to you, john, proud of you, son, thank you. i am a first generation american. at the age of 7, my dad came to johnstown, pennsylvania, from the mountains of northern italy, on a ship named "providence." how providential. that one day his son would announce for president just down the road from the deep mines where his father, my

grandfather, mined coal till he was 72 years old. when my grdfather died, i remembered as a kid kneeling at his casket and not being able to take my eyes off his thick strong hands. hands that dug his path in life and gave his family a chance at living the american dream. working the mines may not have been the dream he ever dreamed. i never dared to ask him. but i think his answer would have been that america gave him more than he had ever hoped. america believed in him. that's why he believed in america. [ applause ] my grandfather, like millions of

other immigrants, didn't come here for some government guarantee of income equality or government benefits to take care of his family. in 1923, there were no government benefits for immigrants except one -- freedom. [ applause ] under president obama, the dream of freedom and opportunity has become a nightmare. of dependency. with almost half of america receiving some sort of government assistance. it's no surprise fewer and fewer americans are achieving their dreams, and more and more parents are concerned their children won't realize theirs. president obama spent four years and borrowed $5 trillion trying to convince you that he can make things better for you.

to put your trust in him and the government. to take care of every problem. the result, massive debt. anemic growth. and millions more unemployed. the president's plan didn't work for america. because that's not how america works. in america -- in america, we believe in freedom and the responsibility that comes with it. to work hard to make the dream of reaching our god-given potential come true. we believe it -- we believe it because it still works. even today, graduate from high school, work hard, and get married before you have children, and the chance you will ever be in poverty is just 2%.

yet, if you don't do these three things, you're 38 times more likely to end up in poverty. we understand many americans don't succeed because the family that should be there to guide them and serve as the first rung on the ladder of success isn't there or is badly broken. the fact is, that marriage is disappearing in places where government dependency is the highest. most single mothers do an heroic work and an amazing job raising their children. but if america is going to succeed, we must stop the assault on marriage and the family in america today.

[ applause ] from lowering taxes to reforming social programs, mitt romney and paul ryan are dedicated to restoring the home where married moms and dads are pillars of strong communities, raising good citizens in our neighborhoods. [ applause ] a solid education should be the second rung on the ladder to success. but the system has failed. president obama's solution has been to deny parents choice, attack private schools and nationalize curriculum and student loans. mitt romney believes that parents and the local community must be in charge our schools, not the department of education. [ applause ]

yet we all know there is one key to success. that has helped people overcome even the greatest of obstacles, hard work. that's why work was the centerpiece of the bipartisan welfare reform law. requiring work is a condition for receiving welfare. and not just because the welfare rolls were cut in half but because employment went up, poverty went down, and dreams were realized. it's a sturdy ladder of success that is built with healthy families, education and hard work. [ applause ] but president obama's policies undermine the traditional family. weaken the education system.

and this summer he showed us once again he believes in government handouts and dependency. by waiving the work requirement for welfare. now, i helped write the welfare reform bill. we made the law crystal clear. no president can waive the work requirement. but as with his refusal to enforce our immigration laws, president obama rules like he is above the law. americans take heed, when a president can simply give a speech or write a memo and change the law to do what the law says he cannot do, we will no longer be a republic. [ applause ]

yet, as my family and i crisscrossed america, something became so obvious to us. america is still the greatest country in the world. and with god's help, and good leadership, we can restore the american dream. [ applause ] why? because i held its hand. i shook the hand of the american dream. and it has a strong grip. i shook the hands of farmers and ranchers who made america the bread basket of the world. hands weathered and worn and proud of it. i grasped the dirty hands with

scars that come from years of labor and the oil and gas fields, mines and mills. hands that build and powered america and are stewards of the abundant resources that god has given us. i've gripped hands that work in restaurants and hotels, hospitals, banks and grocery stores, hands that serve and care for all of us. i clasped hands of men and women in uniform and their families. hands that sacrificed and risked all to protect and keep us free. and hands that pray for their safe return home. [ applause ] i held hands that are in want. hands looking for the dignity of

a good job. hands growing whe ining weary o finding one but refusing to give up hope. and finally, i cradled the hands, the little broken hands, of the disabled. hands that struggle. hands that bring pain. hands that enoble us and bring great joy. they came to see us. oh, did they come to see us when they found out that karen and i were blessed with caring for someone special too. our bella. 4 1/2 years ago, i stood over a hospital isolet staring at the

tiny hands of our newborn daughter. who we hoped was perfectly healthy. but bella's hands were just a little different. and i knew different wasn't good news. the doctors later told us that bella -- that bella was incompatible with life. and to prepare to let go. they said even if she did survive, her disabilities would be so severe that bella would not have a life worth living. we didn't let go. [ applause ]

today bella is full of life. she has made our lives and countless others much more worth living. i thank god that america still has one party that reaches out their hands in love to lift up all of god's chirp, born and unborn. [ cheers and applause ]

and we say, and we say that each of us has dignity. and all of us have the right to live the american dream. and we also say that without you, without you, america is not keeping faith with its dream. that all men, all men, are created equal, and endowed by their creator with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. ladies and gentlemen, you know

we are stewards of a great inheritan inheritance. in november, we have a chance to vote for life and liberty, not for pendency. a vote for romney and ryan will put our country back in the hands of leaders who understand what america can, and, for the sake of our children, must be to keep the dream alive. thank you and god bless you and god bless america, thank you. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> please welcome the next u.s. senator from the great state of texas -- >> you've been listening to rick santorum. one interesting thing to me was he put the whole abortion debate, the whole platform debate that mitt romney wanted to brush into the corner right front and center with all the children born and unborn.

>> it was vintage rick santorum. the kind of speech he could have delivered if, if, he had been the republican presidential nominee. that's the speech he would have delivered. only at the very, very end did we hear that endorsement of mitt romney and paul ryan. most of that speech was a speech he could have delivered if he had been the nominee. >> on his own night. the last couple of sentences he got to mitt romney. david gergen. what's your take on this? the full ringing endorsement romney needed or not? >> it was an endorsement. it wasn't full and ringing. i think the critics are going to pounce on the speech for repeating this republican charge that president obama's waiving the rules on welfare when so many say that's just simply untrue. with conservatives, this speech will resonate. as you know from traveling the country, there is a rising anxiety among conservatives and many other households about the growing number of children born out of wedlock. there is resentment about the

growing number of people going on benefits. and on the abortion issue, i actually thought he came at that in a way that was not as alienating as the platform. he tried to express it in a more positive way, about respecting life. the platform has this really sledgehammer view that all abortions are going to be outlaws. and even for rape or for incest. and even for health of the mother. and that is from, you know, that is what has brought on this sort of outcry from the other side. so i thought it was a very interesting speech. it helped unite the party. but it left a lot of issues out there that democrats will come back on. >> i clearly got the feeling, david, it was the kind of speech that if, if, romney doesn't win, president obama's re-elected, potentially could set the stage for 2016 for rick santorum. i suspect he hasn't given up that dream of being president of the united states. the motorcade of mitt romney and the family coming over to tampa

bay times forum. ann romney getting ready in the next hour. she'll be delivering a speech right at the top of the hour. we're anxiously looking forward to that speech. ann romney getting ready to deliver a speech. candy crowley is up on the podium. she's watching all what's going on. you got a special guest, candy. >> i do, senator kelly ayotte, as you know, freshman senator from new hampshire, gave her speech up here a little before santorum gave his. senator, thank you for joining us. >> thanks, candy. >> i think for the first timing so prominently mentioned other than in the platform fight we heard rick santorum talk about the abortion issue. we've had a lot of folks say over the past several weeks, look, this cannot be our front burner issue. do you worry that high-profile talk, putting the social issues front and center, hurt the republican party at this point? >> well, i actually think that certainly we know that rick santorum, he was expressing his strong views on this issue and people have strong views on it,

but the focus has been on the economy and, really, the president's record, where we are, with over 42 straight months of over 8% unemployment. my speech was about small business. my own family's story about small business. and, really, that's -- we need to get our economy moving. and that's been the focus of mitt romney. you know, people have strong feelings about the social issues. and we respect that. >> when you look around this arena and when you look at the polling, you know what the gender gap is. you know that the percentage of females supporting president obama versus mitt romney is double digit gap there. what is wrong do you think here that the republican party hasn't been able to attract more women? >> i actually think this gender gap is going to close up. because at the end of the day, women -- my family, i'm worried. i'm the mother of a 7-year-old and 4-year-old. it's about the debt. it's about what we're passing on to the next generation. and also what jobs are available

for our killeds th s thatkids tt of college. we look at the number of college kids that are unemployed or underemployed. that is really those bread and butter issues at the end of the day. i think that's going to bring women to the polls and really bring them around to romney and his record. >> senator ayotte of new hampshire, i hope to talk to you more down the line, thank you. appreciate it. wolf and erin. >> all right, thanks so much to you, candy. in addition to the convention here in tampa, we're also following the breaking news along the gulf coast. >> it is breaking even as we speak. right now it's now a hurricane, hurricane isaac. it's moving in over louisiana and mississippi. our own anderson cooper is standing by. he'll bring us the very latest.

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there you see the strength of the amount of water that's pouring down here in new orleans. and the worst is yet to come. we're here with meteorologist rob marciano. still already a lot of people without power. >> 150,000 already. so easily going to be 1 million people without power before this is done. and then there's reports of some of the levees outside o the main system, water getting close to coming to the top of those, so a lot of concerns tonight. >> we really won't know the full extent of flooding and where till really daylight probably. >> yeah, for the most part. we'll see some street flooding tonight, that's for sure. whether or not the pumps keep up, that's going to be the question tonight. the levee system, we'll see tomorrow morning. there's no way even for the pumps to keep up. there will be flooding. hopefully it won't be too

damaging. >> let's check in with ed lavandera who has been out in grand isle that has been seeing some bad, bad weather. how is it now? >> anderson, these winds continue to be quite a problem here in grand isle. we're just on the edge of the eye of the storm. we were hoping, the last time we spoke, to get a little bit of a reprieve. perhaps the eye would come over us and give us a break. but that has not happened yet. we just got off the phone with the mayor here in grand isle to kind of get a sense, if they've been able to get a sense of any damage that is out there. when you look out here, outside of a couple of lights that are powered up by the generator that we are using here, it is absolute darkness out there. the mayor says they've had reports of roof damages across grand isle but they've not been able to go out and do any kind of assessment, that right now it is simply too dangerous with the winds incredibly intense at this point, anderson. >> chad myers, what's the big

picture? >> the big picture for eddie is the northern part of the eye wall still is not over him. so the center of the eye not over him yet. that's why he's still getting those very gusty winds. 70, 80 miles per hour from the east. you're about to see some wind as well, anderson. we're going to get rid of that here for you. we will see this air. right here. that's big heavy rainfall band coming to you in about an hour. so in about 20 minutes, to about 45 minutes from now, you'll get a break in here from what you have, one of the outer squall bands, the center of the circulation right here over the still of the delta of the mississippi. anderson. >> our coverage is going to continue throughout the night here. correspondents all across the region. we anticipate ann romney speaking at the republican convention very soon. that of course we'll bring to you live. everyone has goals.

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republicans here at this convention, they're all pumped up right now. i want to go over to john king. there will be some other speakers, john, before ann romney speaks. that will be the highlight of the evening. >> ann romney and chris christie in the 10:00 evening on the east coast. among the speakers we're about to hear is somebody who has a unique place. he's artur davis. he was at the democratic convention. he's speaking at the republican convention tonight. artur davis telling democrats,

especially southern democrats, four years ago thatbarack obama should be president of the united states. tonight he will make the case he has had his chance. and governor romney should get to replace him. is this something that will help mitt romney? something to help african-americans and archer davis is african-american and we will ask gloria borger. it is a significant play, and george bush brought zell miller to his convention and some people say it helps and others say that he is a political opportunist to find a new home. >> what this is about for the romney campaign is disaffected democrats, and they are using him as a symbol of people who voted for barack obama in 2008 and are now what they call the switchers or they hope will be the switchers. so he's the perfect opportunity for them to say, okay, here was somebody who was very enthusiastic about president obama and he has now changed his mind and he will tell you why and that is why you should change your mind, too.

>> let's see if he can help. former congressman archer davis speaking to the republican national convention in this cycle. >> who knew when asked, could government conceivably impose a federal mandate requiring middle class americans to buy health rd it or not ththe obama uld answer would be yes,e ca. so this time in the name of 23 million ofur childre parents and brothers and49c sis who are officially unemployed, underemployed or who havstopped put the poetry aside, and let's suspend the hype, and let's come down to earth and start creating jobs again. this time. instead of moving oans and healing planets, let's pay the

debt down on those walls and control our own future. and of course, of course, we know that opportunity lies outside of the reach of some of the people. we don't need flowery words about inequality to tell us that, and we don't need a party that is led while poverty and hunger rose to record levels to give us lectures about suffering. now, ladies and gentlemen, there are americans who are listening to this speech right now who haven't always been with you. and i want you to let me talk just to them for a moment. i know how loaded up the politics is with anger and animosity. but i have to believe we can still make a case over the raised voices. there are americans watching right now who voted for the president, but they are searching right now, because they know that their votes

didn't build the country they wanted. to those democrats and independents whose minds are open to argument, listen closely to the democratic party that will gather in charlotte, and ask yourself if you hear your voice in the clamor and ask yourself if these democrats still speak for you when they say that we have a duty to grow government even when we cannot afford it, does it sound like compassion to you, or does it sound like recklessness? when you hear the party that glorified occupy wall street blast success, when you hear the minimize the genius of the men and women who make jobs out of nothing, is that what you teach your children about work? when they tell you that america is this unequal place where the powerful trample on the powerless, does that sound like the country your children or

your spouse risked their lives for in iraq or afghanistan? do you even recognize the america they are talking about? and what can we say about a house that doesn't honor the pictures on its walls? john kennedy asked us what we could do for america. this democratic party, what can government give you. don't worry about paying the bills, your kids or grandkids, and bill clinton took on the base and made welfare something that you had to work for and this current crowd guts the welfare work requirement and dead of night, and won't tell the truth about it. bill clinton, jack kennedy and lyndon johnson reached across the aisle and said meet me in the middle, but their party rammed through a health care bill that took over 1/6 of our economy without excepting a

single republican idea and without a single vote from a house whose party's constituents make up half of this country. you know the democrats used to have a night when they presented a film of the presidential legend, and folks, if they do it in charlotte, the theme song should be this year's hit "now you are just somebody that i used to know." my fellow americans, when great athletes falter, their coaches sometimes whisper to them, remember who you are. it is a call to the greatness in a moment when their bodies and spirit are too sapped to remember their strength. this sweet blessed god-inspired place called america is a champion that has absorbed some

blows. but we bend, we do not break. this is no dark hour. this is no dark hour. this is the dawn before remember who we are. so may it be said of this time in our history, 2008 to 20, lesson learned. 2012, mistake corrected. god bless you. god bless you, tampa. god bless you, america. let's take this country back. thank you so much. the former democratic congressman from alabama, and a former speaker at barack obama's democratic convention telling the republican convention and

people that they did not get what they voted for and democrats and independents should have an open mind when voting. i want to start with you roland martin, artur davis out there saying, you did not get what you bought, and did he make a case for them to look at the independent ticket? >> well, you just heard a political fraud. a political fraud. this is somebody who never campaigned as a conservative democrat, who never uttered that he was a conservative democrat, and who always said he was in lock step with the democratic party and you noticed that artur davis never brought up his voting record when he voted with the democrats and that he ran ads with obama in his own commercials and not only that, now, understand, i thought he was a fraud when he was a democrat and two days before the house vote i went down to the pool of congress and talked to the members about how they would vote, and he said, i'm going to

vote against the health care bill and i asked him why. he stated why he voted against it. and then i said, kopgmcongressm have you made an attempt to talk to the president to relay your concerns, and his response was he never called me. i said, wait a minute, you campaigned with him and you are telling me that you could not get a meeting with the president to share your concerns and he could not answer it. that means you are a member of fraud as a member of congress and a fraud tonight. >> and alex, people who are watching tonight who don't have roland's history with the congressman is making a point that he is a fraud and not getting what you bought. >> well, roland has never heard the story of the young puppy, is he a democrat or the rep? well, he is a democrat today and tomorrow the eyes are open, and he'll be a republican. that is what has happened to artur davis and anybody who grew up in the party of john f. kennedy and heard him say, ask

not what you can your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country, and this what you can get from another side and the high ranking member of the army come over to your side, it is interesting and an interesting speech. and coming up, ann romney will speak, and chris christie will also speak. the big opening of the republican national coention coverage continues. the republican convention is fin finally under way. >> this convention will come to order. >> under the cloud of isaac's thrashing of the gulf coast. party leaders are watching isaac and thetone of their celebration as the build-up begins for mitt romney to accept the republican nomination. >> for the next president of the united states, mitt romney. >> in tampa tonight, the woman who could be the next first lady in primetime. >> we are not going the take it

anymore, and we are taking the white house back. >> ann romney is ready to take the stage and address her husband's weak spot. can she show voters sides of his person personality as she sees. >> he is as loose and spontaneous and as fun as you will see, and as much fun as you can imagine. >> and also chris christie's speech should be laced with humor and bite. >> so the time to come on the air and talk about the economy and i said, what the heck, i have ten minutes to waste. cnn turns the platform on up with of the states of politics where elections are won or lost. welcome to the republican national convention. it is your vote, your future, it is your vote, your future, your country, your choice. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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delegater delegatedele waiting for. r >> ye>> yes, tp >> >> ocourse, how anda few mome be introduced and here is what we will tell you, her speech will paint a personal for traportrait of thee loves, her husband, and she have the keynote address and the man delivering thatand that speech will also be in the balance. and nicky kki haley, clearl rising star in the republican party is speaking, so let's l listen. >> a few months ago, i sat on the tarmac at the boeing facility in north charleston and watched as a new mac daddy plane rolled on to the runway sporting a made with pride in south carolina decal and surrounded by, get ready for it, 6,000 non-union employees, cheering and smiling and so proud of what they had built.

we deserve a president who won't sacrifice american jobs and american workers to pacify the bullying union bosses he counts as the political allies. american businesses deserve a federal government that doesn't stand in their way, not one that tries to chase them overseas. slighting american ingenuity and business is what this president has meant to south carolina and this governor, and that is why this governor will not stop fighting until we send him home back to chicago and send mitt and ann romney to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. i have had the pleasure of knowing mitt romney for several years now, and there so much to appreciate about him. he fixes things. he is results-driven.

he has taken broken companies and made them successful, and he took a failing olympics and made it a source of pride for the country. he went into a democratic state, cut taxes, brought in jobs and improved education. oh, and by the way, he actually ba balanced his budget. this is a man at peace with who he is, with the challenges he faces and with what he intends to accomplish. this is a man not just a candidate looking to win an election, but a leader yearning to return our nation to the greatest potential. and this is a man who has a silver bullet, his greatest asset by far, the next first lady of the united states ann romney.

ann the perfect combination of strength and grace. she does what so many women in america do. she balances and in an exceptional way. she raised five amazing boys, battled ms, is a breast cancer survivor and through it all was a true partner to mitt. ann romney makes all women proud by the way she has conducted her life as a strong woman of faith, as a mother, as a wife and as a true patriot. she is an amazing inspiration for me and for so many women across the country. not too long ago i traveled to michigan to campaign for the romneys. towards the the end of the day, two self-described independents came up to me and said, we like what we hear about governor romney and although we don't know everything about him, what

we do know without a doubt is that we deserve better than what we have today. they are so right 678 we deserve a president who will turn the economy around and we deserve a president who will balance our budget. we deserve a president who will protect our retirement for future generations, and we deserve a president who will fight for companies not against them. we deserve a president who will strengthen our military, not destable them. america deserves better than today and we deserve a president mitt romney.

thank you, god bless you and may he continue to blez the united states of america. please welcome to the stage -- nikki haley, the republican governor of south carolina. so there she is, and candy crowley is up on the podium and we are awaiting ann romney and she is about to be introduced, candy, and give us a little sense of what we are about to hear. >> we are about to hear a wife introduce her husband to a bigger audience than either one of them has ever had before and not the folks in the room, but the folks on the cameras on the other sidef of the camera sitting in their living room. she is the kickoff testifier for who this man is, and obviously, you can say it is his wife and what do you expect her to say, but the fact of the matter is that wives are so important and

certainly for so many years, and now in a much more visible way, and if you look back at the roles some of the wives have played in framing who their husbands are, i think of tipper gore who enlivened her husband and she was around. he was really much looser when you talk about george and laura bush when she was around, and sort of the excesses of his person personality calmed down. she was a calming force to him. ann romney wants to serve as a sort of humanizing force for mitt romney. she has suffered through some major tragedies, a miscarriage, breast cancer, ms, and all thing things that when she talks about them, she does very effectively, because what does it do? it brings people in to say, oh, i can relate to that, and i know what it is like to face real trouble, and in doing that and talking about her husband's role in all of that, she can kind of bring and give him a pulse, and

really kind of humanizes him in a way that he has been unable to do for himself, because frankly, he is not that kind of guy. so he is she is the kickoff witness for what they hope is three days of policy, which you will get from chris christie who is the governor of the keynote speaker after ann romney, but she is the kickoff speaker for who is this guy, because that is what this convention is about. who is this guy in both personality, humanity and policy. she's the one that can begin to bring that home, and sort of reaching into the living rooms and say, take a second look here, because that's really what they need when they want to kind of close that gap when you see that the people think at least when you compare president obama to mitt romney in the polling, they see president obama far more compassionate when it comes to women, the middle-class and people in general, so she's the person that is going to begin, they hope to be ggin this

transformation in public perception, wolf. >> candy, thank you. gloria borger recently spent qua quality time with ann romney and did an amazing documentary for cnn. >> yes, she did. >> and give us a thought or two before we hear ann romney, glori gloria. >> well, ann romney is her husband's best friend as she described to me, and i want to show you a lile bit of the outtake from that interview that you haven't seen before, wolf. oh, okay. they don't have it. they don't have it cued up yet. let me tell you about this, she calls herself the mitt stabilizer and her children say that when mitt romney is wound up which happens an awful lot, she is the one who spins him back down to earth. she also said to me that in fact, they -- >> hold on a second, ann romney is now walking out. so let's listen in. she is getting a rousing, rousing reception, and i'm anxious to see where mitt romney, her husband s and i know

he is here some place, and we will find out where he is, erin, but this is what the republicans are waiting for, because ann romney has been working really, really hard on this speech, and the five sons told us that today and i assume she is ready to go. >> and she looks absolutely amazing. i mean, she is ready for the moment in every way and wearing the red out here and signs with we love ann and getting the biggest ovation so far, and here she is. >> she is clearly moved. this is a woman with an aspiring story on her own and we will see if she gets into that. she suffers from ms and breast cancer, and she is amazing and everyone agrees so let's listen in. >> thank you, and thank you, luce. i can't wait to see what we are all going to do together. this is going to be so exciting.

just so you all know that the hurricane has hit landfall and we should all take this moment to recognize that fellow americans are in its path and just hope and pray that all remain safe and no life is lost and no property is lost. so we should all be thankful for this great country and grateful tor the first responders and all that keep us safe in this wonderful country. [ applause ] well, i want to talk to you tonight, not about politics and not about party. and while there are many important issues that we will hear discussed in the convention and throughout the campaign, tonight, i want to talk to you from my heart about our hearts. >> we love you, ann!

>> i want to talk not about what divides us, but what holds us together as an american family. i want to talk to you tonight about that one great thing that unites us, that one great thing that brings us our greatest joy when times are good, and the deepest solace in our dark hours, tonight i want to talk to you about love. i want to talk to you about the deep and abiding love i have for a man i met at a dance many years ago. and the profound love i have and i know we share for this country. i want to talk to you about that love so deep only a mother can fathom it, the love we have for our children and our children's children. and i want us to think tonight

about the love we share for those americans, our brothers and our sisters, who are going through difficult times, whose days are never easy and nights are always long and whose work never seems done. they are here among us in this hall. they are here in neighborhoods across tampa and all across america, the parents who lie awake at night side by side wondering how to pay the mortgage or make the rent and the single dad who is working extra hours tonight so that the kids can buy new clothes to go back to school, and take a school trip or play a sport, so his kids can feel, you know, just like other kids. and the working moms who love their jobs but would like to work just a little less to spend more time with the kids, but that is just out of the question with this economy. or how about that couple who'd like to have another child, but they wonder how the afford it? i have been all across this

country and i know a lot of you guys -- [ applause ] i have heard and seen stories of how hard it is to get ahead now, and you know what, i have heard your voices. they have said to me, i'm running in place, and we just can't get ahead. sometimes i think that late at night if we were all silent for just a few moments and listened carefully, we could hear a collective sigh from t moms and dads across america who made it through another day, and know that they will make it through another one tomorrow, but in the end of that day moment, they just aren't sure how. and if you listen carefully, you'll hear the women sighing a little bit more than the men. it is how it is, isn't it? it's the fact that women have had to work a little bit harder to make it right and the moms of the nation, and the single, married, widowed who really hold

this country together. and we're the many mothers. we're the wives. we're the grandmothers. we're the big sisters and we are the little sisters and the daughters. you know it is true, don't you? [ applause ] i love you women. and i hear your voices. there's my favorite fans down there. you are the ones who have to do a little bit more and you know what it is like to work harder in the day to get the respect you deserve at work and then you come home at night to help with the book report, because it has to be done and you know about the late night phone calls with the elderly parent, and the long weekend drives just to see how they are doing, and the fastest route to the local emergency room and which doctors will

answer the phone call when you call late at night, and by the way, i know all about it. you know how it is to sit in that graduation ceremony how so many days turned into years that went by so quickly. you are the best of america. you -- [ applause ] you are the hope of america. there would not be an america without you. tonight, we salute you and sing your praises. i'm not sure if men really understand this, but i don't think that there's a woman in america who really expects her life to be easy. in our own ways, we all know better. you know what, that is fine, because we don't want it easy, but the last few years have been

harder than they needed to be, and it is all of the little things that are the price at the pump that you can't believe and the grocery bills that are bigger and all of the things that used to be free like school sports are now one more bill to pay, and it is all of the little things that pile up to be big things and the big things the good jobs and the chance at college and the home you want to buy get harder, and everything has become harder. we're too smart to know that there are not easy answers, but we are not dumb enough to accept that there aren't better answers. and that is where this boy i met at a high school dance came in and his name is mitt romney, and you should really get to know him. i can tell you why i fell in

love with him. with guys like that, girls are intimidated. he was really nice to my parents burk he was also really glad when they weren't around. i don't mind that, but more than anything, he made me laugh. some of you may not know this, but i am the granddaughter of a welsh coal miner. he was determined -- he was determined that his kids get out of the mines. my dad got his first job when he was 6 years old in a little village in wales cleaning bottles at the collier's arms. when he was 15, dad came to america. in our country, he saw hope and an opportunity to escape from poverty. he moved to a small town in the great state of michigan. michigan!

there he started a business, and one he built by himself by the way. he raised a family and he became mayor of our town. my dad would often remind my brothers and me how fortunate we were to grow up in a place like america. he wanted us to have every opportunity that came with life in this country and so he pushed us to be our best and give our all, and inside of the houses that lineded the streets of our town, there were a lot of good fathers teaching their sons and daughters the same values. i didn't know that at the time, but one of the dads was my future father-in-law george romney. mitt's dad never graduated from college. instead, he became a carpenter. he work hard. he became the head of a car company and then the governor of

michigan. when mitt and i met and fell in love, we were determined not the let anything stand in the way of our life together. i was an episcopalian and he was a mormon and we were very young and both still in college, and there were many reasons to delay marriage, and you know what, we just didn't care. we got marry and moved into a base mement apartment. we walked to class together, shared the housekeeping, ate a lot of pasta and tuna fish. our desk was a door propped up on sawhorses, and the dining room table was a fold down in the kitchen. then our first son came along. all of the sudden, i'm 22 years old and have a baby with a husband who is going to business school and law school at the same time and like every other girl who finds herself in a new

town with a new baby and new husband that it dawned on me that i had absolutely no idea what i was getting into. [ laughter ] well, that was 42 years ago and i have survived. we now have five sons and 18 beautiful grandchildren. i'm still in love with that boy i met at a high school dance, and he still makes me laugh. i read somewhere that mitt and i have a storybook marriage. well, let me tell you something, in the storybooks i read, there never were long, long, rainy winter afternoons in a house with five boys screaming at once, and those storybooks never seemed to have a chapters called m.s. or breast cancer. a storybook marriage, nope, not

at all. what mitt romney and i have is a real marriage. i know this good and decent man for what he is. he is warm and loving and patient and tried to live his life with a set of values centered on family, faith and love of one's fellow man. from the time we were first married, i have seen him spend countless hours on others and drop everything to help a friend in trouble and been there when the late night calls of panic come from a member of our church whose child has been taken to the hospital, and you may not agree with mitt's positions on issues or politics and by the way, massachusetts is only 13% republican and so it is not like it is a shock to me, but -- [ laughter ]

-- but, let me say this to every american who is thinking about who should be our next president, no one will work harder. no one will care more and no one will move heaven and earth like mitt romney to make this country a better place to live. [ applause ] it's true that mitt's been successful at each new challenge

he has taken on. and you know what, it actually amazes me to see the history of success being attacked. are those really the values that made our country great? as a mom of five boys do we want to raise our children to be afraid of success? do we send our children out in the world with the advice, try to do okay. and let's be honest if the last four years had been more successful, do we really think that there would be and atk the on mitt romney's success? of course not. mitt will be the first to tell you that he is the most fortunate man in the world. he had two loving parents who gave him strong values and taught him the value of work. he had the chance to get the education his father never had. but as his partner on this amazing journey, i can tell you that mitt romney was not handed success. he built it.

[ applause ] [ crowd chanting "let's go mitt" ] he stayed in massachusetts after graduate school and got a job. i stau long hours that started after that first job and i was there when he and his friends talked about starting a new company and i was there when they struggled and wondered if the whole idea just wasn't going to work. mitt's reaction was to work harder and press on. today, that company has become another great american success story, and has it made those who started the company successful? made them successful beyond their dreams? yes, it has.

it allowed us to give our sons a chance at good educations and made all of the long hours of book reports and homework worth every minute and given us the deep satisfaction to help others in ways that we never would have imagined. this is important, and i want you to hear what i'm going to say. mitt doesn't like to talk about how he has helped other, because he sees it as a privilege not a political talking point. we are no different than the millions of americans who quietly help their neighbors, their churches and their communities, and they don't do it so others will think more of them. they do it because there is no

greater joy. give and it shall be given unto you. but because this is america, that small company which grew and helped so many others build better lives and the company they grew helped buy homes and helped to fund scholarships and pensions and retirement funds and this is the genius of america, and dreams fulfilled, help others launch new dreams. at every turn in his life, this man i met at a high school dance has helped lift up others. he did it with the olympics when many wanted to give up. he did it in massachusetts where he guided the state from economic crisis to unemployment of just 4.7%.

under mitt, massachusetts' schools were the best in the nation, the best. he started something that i really love, he started the john and abigail adam scholarship to give the top 25% of high school graduates a four-year tuition-free skol slarship. in is the man that america needs. this is the man who will wake up everyday with the determination to solve the problems that others say can't be solved and to fix what others say is beyond repair. this is the man who will work harder than anyone so that we can work a little less hard. i can't tell you what will happen over the next four years, but i can only stand here tonight as a wife and mother and

grandmother, and an american and make you this solemn commitment, this man will not fail. [ applause ] this man will not let us down. this man will lift up america. it has been 47 years since that tall kind of charming young man brought me home from our first dance and not everyday since has been easy, but he is still making me laugh, and he never once did i have a single reason to doubt that i was the luckiest woman in the world tonight. i said tonight, i wanted to talk to you about love. look into your hearts, this is

our country. this is our future. these are our children and grandchildren. you can trust mitt. he loves america. he will take us to a better place just as he took me home safely from that dance. give him that chance, give america that chance. god bless each and every one of you and god bless the united states of america.

♪ ♪ i guess you'll say ♪ what can make me feel this way ♪ ♪ my girl ♪ talking about my girl ♪ ♪ my girl [ applause ] what's your favorite thing about being governor? >> my favorite thing about being governor is that every day i get a chance to -- all right. there you heard the temptations

and "my girl" and wrapping it up for ann romney and what an exciting moment for ann romney and the family and the republicans who are here. we will take a quick break and when we come back, chris christie with a keynote address and getting ready to speak right now. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas...

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and then, in one blindg blink of an eye, their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advisor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. and they danced. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. [ applause ] >> thank you. and now the keynote address by the new jersey governor chris christie. >> thank you very much. thank you.

well, this stage and this moment are very improbable for me. a new jersey republican delivering the keynote address to our national convention. from a state, that i must say with 7,000 more democrats than republicans. a new jersey republican stands before you tonight, proud of my party, proud of my state and proud of my country. now, now i am the son of an irish father and a sicilian mother. and a mom and dad i'm blessed to have with me today. my mom who i lost eight years

ago was the enforcer. now she made sure that we all knew who set the rules. tell it to you this way in the automobile of life, dad was jaus passenger, and mom was the driver. they both lived hard lives. dad grew up in poverty, and after returning from army service, he worked at the braeuer's ice cream plant in the 1950s and with that job and the g.i. bill, he put himself through rutger's university at night to become the first of his family to earn a college degree. and our first family picture, our first family picture was on his graduation day with my mom beaming next to him six months pregnant with me. now, mom also came from nothing. she was raised by a single mother who took three different

buses everyday to get to work. and mom spent the time that she was supposed to be a kid actually raising children. her younger brother and younger sister. she was tough as nails, and didn't suffer fools at all and the truth is she could notf afford to. she spoke the truth bluntly and directly and without varnish. i am her son. i was her son, and i was her son as i listened to the darkness on the edge of town with my high school friends on the jersey shore. i was her son when i moved into that studio apartment with mary pat to start a marriage that is now 26 years old. i was her son as i coached our sons, andrew and patrick, on the fields of mendon and as i watched with pride as our

daughter sarah and brigitte marched with their soccer game hs in the labor day parade and still her son today as governor following the rules she taught me. to speak from the heart, and to fight for your principles, and you see, mom never thought that you'd get extra credit just for speaking the truth. and the greatest lesson that mom ever taught me though was this one. she told me there will be times in your life when you have to choose between being love and being respected. and now she said to always pick being respected. she told me that love without respect was always fleeting, but that respect could grow into real and lasting love. now, of course, she was talking about women. but i have learned over time that it applies just as much to leadership, and in fact, i think

that advice applies to america more than ever today. you see, see i believe that we have become paralyzed, paralyzed by our desire to be loved. our founding fathers had the wisdom the know that social acceptance and pop lularity wer fleeting, and that this country's principles needed to be root ed in strengths greater than the passions and the emotions of the times, but our leaders today have decided to be more important to be popular, and popular and say and do what is easy and say yes rather than to say no when no is what is required. in recent years, in recent years, we as a country have too often choseten same path, and it has been easy for the leaders to say, not us, not now rather than taking on the really tough is e

issues, and unfortunately, we have stood silently by and let them get away with it, but tonight, i say enough. tonight, i say together let's make a much different choice. tonight, we are speaking up for ourselves and stepping up, and tonight, we are going to be beginning to do what is right and necessary to make america great again. we are demanding that the leader stop tearing each other down and work together to take action on the big things facing america. tonight, we are going to do what my mother taught me. tonight, we're going choose respect over love. you see, we are not afraid. we are not afraid. we are taking the country back, because we are the great grandchildren of the men and

women who broke their backs in the names of american ingenuity and the grandchildren of the greatest generation and the sons and daughters of immigrants and the brothers and sisters of everyday heroes and the neighbors of entrepreneurs and firefighters and teachers and farmers and veterans and factory workers and everyone in between who shows up, not just on the big days or the good days, but on the bad days and the hard days. each and every day. all 365 of them, you see, because we are the united states of america. now -- now it is up to us. we must lead the way our citizens live, to lead as my mother insisted i live, not by

avoiding the truth, and especially the hard one, but facing up to them and being better for it. we cannot afford to do anything less and i know this because it was the challenge in new jersey when i came into office. i could continue on the same path that led to wealth and jobs and people leaving the state or do the job that people elected me to do, the big things. now, there were those who said it can't be done, but the problems were too big, too politically-charged and too broken to fix. well, we were on a path that we could no longer afford to follow. now, they said it was impossib, and this is what they told me to cut taxes in a state where taxes were raised 115 times in the eight years before i became governor. that it was impossible to balance the budget at the same time with an $11 billion deficit, but three years later, we have three balanced budgets in a row with lower taxes and we did it!

they said it was impossible to touch the third rail of politics and to take on the public sector unions and to reform a pension and benefit system that was headed to bankruptcy, but with the bipartisan leadership we saved the taxpayers $132 billion over 30 years and saved retirees their pensions, and we did it. they said, they said it was impossible to speak the truth to the teachers union. they were just too powerful. the real teacher tenure reform that demands accountability and ends the guarantee of a job for life regardless of performance, and they said it would never

happen. but for the first time in 100 years with bipartisan support, you know the answer -- we did it! now, the disciples of yesterday's politics always underestimate the will of the people. they assumed our people were selfish. that when told of the difficult problem, the tough choices and the complicated solutions that they would simply turn their back and that they would decide it is every man for himself. they were wrong. the people of new jersey stepped up. they shared in the sacrifice. and you know what else they did? they rewarded politicians who led instead of the politicians who pandered.

but you know, we shouldn't be surprised. we shouldn't be surprised, because we have never been a country the shy a wway from the truth, and the history shows that we stand up when it counts, and it is this qualify that has defined america's character and significance in the world. now i know this simple truth and i'm not afraid to say it. our ideas are right for america and their ideas have failed america. let me be clear with the american people tonight. here is what we believe as republicans and what they believe as democrat. we believe in telling hard-working families the truth about our country's fiscal realities, and telling them what they already know, the mass of federal spending does not add up. with $5 trillion in debt added

up over to the last four years, we have no option but the hard choices, cut the federal spending and fundamentally reduce the size of this government. you want to know what they believe? they believe that the american people don't want to hear the truth about the extent of the fiscal difficulties and they believe that the american people need to be cotled by big government. they believe that the american people are content to live the lie with them. they are wrong. we believe in telling our seniors the truth about our overburdened entitlement. we know that seniors not only want these programs to survive, but they just as badly want them secured for their grandchildren. our seniors are not [ muted ]

they believe seniors will put themselves ahead of the grandchildren and here is what they do, they prey on the vulnerabilities and scare them with the misinformation for the single cynical purpose of winning the next election. here's their plan, whistle a happy tune while driving us off of the fiscal cliff as long as they are behind the wheel of power when we fall. now, we believe that the majority of the teachers in america know that there must be reform to put the students first so that america can compete. teachers do not teach to become rich or famous. they teach because they love children. we believe that we should honor and reward the good once while doing what is best for our nation's future. the demanding accountability and demanding higher standards and

demanding the best teacher in every classroom in america. get ready, here is what they believe. they believe that the educational establishment will always put themselves ahead of children, and that self-interests will trump common sense and they believe in pitting unions against educators and lobbyists against children, a nd they believe in teacher's unions and we believe in teachers. we believe that if we tell the people the truth that they will act bigger than the pettiness

that we see in washington, d.c. we believe it is possible to forge bipartisan compromise and stand up for our conservative principles. you see, because it has always been the power of our ideas, not our rhetoric, that attracts people to our party. we win when we make it about what needs to be done. we lose when we play along with their game of scaring and dividing. for make no mistake about it, everybody, that the problems are too big to let the american people lose. the slowest economic recovery in decades and the spiraling out of control deficit and an education system that is failing to compete in the world. it does not matter how we got here, because there is enough blame to go around, but what matters is what we do now. you see -- i know -- i know we

can fix our problems. when there are people in the room who care more about doing the job they were elected to do than they worry about winning re-electi re-election, it is possible to work together, achieve principle compromise and get results for the people who gave us these jobs in the first place. the people have no patience for any other way anymore. it is simple, we need politicians to care more about doing something and less about being something. and believe me, believe me, if we can do this in a blue state like new jersey with a conservative republican governor, washington, d.c. is out of excuses.

leadership delivers. leadership counts. leadership matters. and here's the great news i came here tonight to bring you. we have this leader for america, and we have a nominee who will tells the truth and lead with conviction and now he has a running mate to do the same, and we have governor mitt romney and congressman paul ryan and we need to make them the next president and vice president of the united states. you see, because i know mitt romney. i know mitt romney, and mitt romney will tell us the hard

truths that we need to hear and put us back on a path to growth and create good paying private sector jobs again in america. mitt romney will tell us the hard truths that we need to hear to end this torrent of debt that is compromising our future and burying our economy, and mitt romney will tell us the hard truths that we need to hear to end the debacle of putting the world's greatest health care system in the hands of federal bureaucrats and putting the bureaucrats between an american citizen and her doctor. now, we ended an era of absentee leadership without principle in new jersey, and i'm here to tell you right here that it is time to end this era of leadership in the oval office and send leaders mitt romney and paul ryan for

america, and we need them right now. now, we have to tell each other the truth, right? listen, there is doubt and fear for our future in every corner of our country. i have traveled all over to country and i have seen it myself. these feelings are real. this moment is real. it is a moment like this where some skeptics wonder if american greatness is over, and wonder how those who have come before us had the spirit and the tenacity to lead america to a new era of great innocence the fa -- greatness in the face of challenge and not to look at me, but to look around and say, yes, me. i have an answer tonight for the skeptics and the nay-sayers and the dividers and the defenders of the status quo, i have faith

in us. i know -- i know we can be the men and women our country calls on us to be tonight. i believe in america and her history, and there is one thing missing right now, leadership. it takes leader hip that you don't get from reading a poll. you see, mr. president, real leaders don't follow the polls, but real leaders change the polls. that is what we need. that is what we need to do now. we need to change polls through the power of our principles and change the polls through the strength of our conviction, and tonight, our duty is to tell the american people the truth. our problems are big and the solutions will not be painless. we all mustt share in the sacrifice, and any leader that tells us differently is simply not telling the truth.

now i think that tonight is the greatest generation and we will look back and marvel at the courage of overcoming the great depression, and standing up to nazi tyranny and fighting for freedom around the world and now it is our call that make no mistake every generation will be judged, and so will we. what will our children and grandchildren say of us? we buried ourselves in the sand and persuaded ourselves with the creature comforts, and that the problems were too big and we were too small and someone else should make a difference, because we couldn't, or will they say we stood up and made the tough choices that we needed to nak to preserve the way of life. i dont n't know about you, but don't want my children or grandchildren to read the american historybooks books to

what it was like to be living in a country that was overtaxed and overborrowed and without leadership. i want them to live in a second american century a second american century. a second american century of strong economic growth for those who are willing to work hard will have good paying jobs to support their families and reach their dreams and a second american century where real american exceptionalism is not a political punchline, but evident to everyone in the world by watch watching the way our government conducts the business everyday and the way that americans live their lives and the second american century where the military is strong, our values are sure, the work ethic is unmatch and the constitution remains a model for anyone in the world struggling for lib her ti.

-- lib erty. let us choose a pth that will be remembered for generations to come, standing strong for freedom will make the next century as great an american century as the last one. you see, this is the american way. we have never been victims of destiny. we have always been the masters of our own. and i know, i know ta you agree with me on this, i will not be part tof the generation that fails that test, and neither will you. all right. now it is time for us to stand up. and everybody stand up. everybody stand up. stand up. because there is no time left to waste. if you are willing to stand up

with me for america's future, i will stand up with you if you are willing to fight for with me for mitt romney, and hear about the hard road ahead and the truths that will bear, i am ready to begin with you this new era of truth telling and tonight we choose the new era of truth telling and finally we answer the call that so many generations before us have had the courage to answer, and tonight, we stand up for mitt romney as the next president of the united states, and to together -- and together, and

together, together, everybody, we will stand up once again for american greatness for our children and grandchildren. god bless you and god bless america. ladies and gentlemen, performing the world premier of their song "one light" please welcome three doors down. all right. so there you have it, chris christie delivering a powerful, powerful keynote address. erin, they are excited over here and a very different speech than ann romney who delivered a speech of love for her husband and he delivered a very, very tough, blistering attack on the

president of the united states, and the obama administration, and he wanted to get this crowd going and set the stage for tomorrow, thursday, and thursday is the day that romney will delir obviously his acceptance address, and that is what the charge was and he certainly delivered from the republican standpoint. >> certainly seems like both of those speeches were powerful in totally different ways. watching mitt romney and his family sort of file out of here with the special box they were sitting in chris christie's wife, mary pat, and their children, but i thought it was interesting how in very different ways, and i know that both of the speeches tried to accomplish the same thing, and went towards the women, and ann romney said i love the women, and chris christie talked about his mother, the most powerful p person in miz life. >> yes, good point. ann romney sitting next to mitt romney with condoleezza rice on the other side.

our special coverage continuings right now. tonight, republicans try to warm up mitt romney's image by letting the voters see him through his wife's eyes. >> i am still in love with that boy i met at a high school dance, and he still makes me laugh. >> keynote speaker chris christie drives home the differences of the party and president obama. >> tonight we will begin to make what is great about america again. >> and the thoughts of the gulf coast. >> i want to offer safety for those in the path of the hurricane. and the thoughts of the first day of the republican national convention. >> i offer all votes for mitt romney and paul ryan. >> and the message, and did mitt romney's party do what it takes romney's party do what it takes to be america's choice? -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

you are looking at live pictures of the tampa bay times forum and outside quiet, but inside of the tampa bay forum right now, and we want to welcome the viewers in the united states and around the world for the republican national convention right here in tampa. i'm wolf blitzer along with my cnn colleagues erin burnett. we heard some powerful speeches in the past hour. >> we certainly did. obviously, mitt romney officially clinching the republican presidential nomination, and he made a surprise appearance here in the convention hall to watch his wife, ann's speech, and it was one of the many memorable moments and when he came out and her talking about the love for him, i had a tear in my eye and a lot of people did, because of the love story and a lot of highlights today.

>> new jersey -- >> proudly cast all 50 of its vote s f votes for the next president of the united states, governor mitt romney. >> so in 70 days when the american people walk into the voting booth, what should we do? we should throw him out. because we can do better, and we can do a lot better, and it starts with throwing out the politician who doesn't get it and electing a new president who does. >> mitt romney spent his life turning around failing enterprises. and america needs a turnaround, specifically we need barack obama to turn around and go back to chicago. >> his policies have failed us. we are not better off than we were four years ago and no rhetoric, bumper sticker or hollywood campaign ad can change that. send a message to president

obama. and that message is three simple words -- we built it. >> mitt romney always asks how can i help small businesses grow, innovate and compete? it is the question that this administration never thinks to ask, but why should we be surprised? president obama has never even run a lemonade stand. >> just think what we could do if we had a president who would support us and not obstruct us, who understands the economy, and w who has actually balanced a budg budget, and heck, for that matter, somebody who has actually passed a budget. >> and i have a feeling and just because i don't like the black-eyed peas i have a new feeling that we are about to

elect a new president in america. >> we need politicians to care more about doing something and less about being something. and believe me, believe me, if we can do this in a blue state like new jersey with a conservative republican governor, washington, d.c. is out of excuses. leadership delivers. leadership counts. leadership matters. here's the great news i came here tonight to bring you sh, w have this leader for america. >> i can't tell you what will happen over the next four years, but i can only stand here tonight as a wife and a mother and a grandmother, an american and make you this solemn commitment, this man will not fail. this man will not let us down. this man will lift up america.

all right. the kiss from mitt romney who came out on the stage right after she finished speaking, and powerful speech from ann romney from chris christie who delivered the keynote speech, and we have john king with a group of experts ready to weigh in with a quick thought or two. john? >> well, let's assess what we heard on the first night of the republican national convention. two messages a ann romney showing the softer side of the husband wanting to talk about love and chris christie wanting to tell the american people that mitt romney is ready to tell america the hard truth, and let's join in our panel. david gergen, let me start with you, and it is not the first rodeo. mitt romney comes into the night, and ann romney is supposed to make him more human and more gentler and kinder an enthen chris kri christie comes to say that the president does

not have courage and that mitt romney will come out to tell you the truth. successful night. >> yes, successful for them, and they came in to pack it in, and in a way it is important to have them together, but there is a difference between them. i noticed that chris christie helped to reinforce the vote that mitt romney already has. he really strengthened that. ann romney by distinction i think added to the vote he is likely to get. that was very, very important. i don't think that chris christie's speech as such was one that we will remember for a long time, but ann romney's speech has a chance to be remembered. you will remember so well in 2004 when we were all sort of agag at barack obama's speech at the democratic convention and this is one of the best speeches we have heard at a convention since then. >> and so gloria borger, david gergen says it is to move the ball into the new voters and gender gap and we have a little bit of the speech from ann romney to make the point that yes, he was born wealthy, but he

earned the wealth and made the point of struggled and described the marriage in an interesting way. let's listen. >> i read somewhere that mitt and i have a storybook marriage. well, let me tell you something, this the storybooks that i read, there never were long, long rainy afternoons in a house with five boys screaming atonce. and those storybooks never seemed to have a chapter called m.s. or breast cancer. a storybook marriage? nope, not at all. what mitt romney and i have is a real marriage. >> the point she was trying to make. >> that he's a real guy, and she loves him, and they have a real family, real story, real marriage, that they have had their struggles, and what was interesting to me about ann tonight though was not only that she tried to kind of be the character witness for mitt romney, but i also felt that this was a political speech

wrapped in velvet. i mean, she attacked, i mean not president obama directly, but said, to women, we are too smart to know that there aren't easy answers, but not dumb enough to accept that there are better answers. that is a political speech, and it was delivered so arsonly, and not only talking to women, but saying, you know what, you cannot pull one over on me, and i will tell you who the real mitt romney is, and we as women understand the problems here. >> and john, one second here, because i want to bring in ari fleischman who is joining us. ari, in 2004, you were with a republican president in a convention in a very, very close convention, and go back to the first one when george w. bush was challenging the incumbent the vice president of the united states al gore, and every night of the convention, you need to move the ball and in that case, did mitt romney move the ball tonight? >> well, yes, ann romney did. it is one of the most effective

speeches i have heard. it had a grace and human touch to it. that is what you were looking for in a speech to help mitt romney, and it was a gender gap closer and written to do that in the second half of the speech, and the testimonial about mitt's character and nature and warmth, and that is something that is an identifiable weak thans the american people want to know more of. the part i will remember about it is how she described why he does not brag about the charitable deeds he has done and the good things that she has done along those lines and she said, he did it because it is a right thing to do and not a political talking point. that is effective. if there is a critique of her speech, i think it is going to be that people say, you are wealthy and you cannot possible understand what it is like. but i think that there are a lot more people who say, she really gave a speech from a mom's point of view, that a mom can really relate to. >> a lot more the discuss in the hour ahead, and roland and alex have more to say, and i want go back to wolf and erin and you were much closer and this is the first time we saw governor

romney the convention hall and he came on the stage after ann romney's speech, and then he was sitting near you in the vip box and then listening to chris christie and to applaud a little bit. >> yes, a nice gesture for the republican nominee and officially now because he was nominated by the convention and sat next to his wife and condoleezza rice and listening attentively and he was not smiling a lot. he looked, how would you describe it? >> i don't know, because wolf and i were not trying to come up with it. >> not animated. a little bit of not shock, but a little bit of stunned that this night has come and he is the nominee of the republican party to be president of the united states, and a little bit more than two months he will know whether he is the president of the united states. all right. we will have a lot more analysis of what is going on and earlier we heard democratic congressman artur davis speak to the crowd

from alabama and originally four years ago he seconded the nomination of then senator barack obama to be president of the united states. now, very different, and he has turned against president obama and he is now a republican and he is going to be joining us live when we come back. >> all right. and we are also following breaking news on the hurricane, and we will have the latest on that hitting louisiana as we speak. very dangerous, and anderson cooper is there when we come back. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing.

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vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. chris christie delivered a very powerful keynote address. he's the republican governor from new jersey suggesting that it was pretty amazing that at this convention a republican governor from new jersey was delivering the keynote address, but you know, thanks to john berman, the newest addition here at cnn, you know what he tweeted? in 1988 tom kean, a republican

new jersey governor delivered that keynote speech. and dana bash, you are in the new jersey delegation, so tell us what is going on. >> well, tom kean was here and i won't bore you, but i can recite the famous tom kean commercial and i won't bore you with that, but standing here with the new jersey delegation, really on the floor in general, it was a different feel when chris christie gave this keynote speech. this is my fourth convention to be on the floor of the republican national convention and republicans parties in general like the red meat, but particularly for the republicans. this speech was much more revivable than red meat, and chris christie spent a lot of time as the aides told me before trying to be positive, but he also was talking kind of in general terms that it took him a long time to talk about mitt romney and paul ryan. he wanted to make this more

thematic, and it was very clear. interesting, wolf to, be waiting a little bit longer again to mention mitt romney and that is not the first time it happened. >> yes and when he did, he got into it and made a very, very full endorsement of mitt romney. >> yes. vigorous. >> and jim acosta is on the floor, as well. jim, where are you? >> i'm right in front of the vip box, wolf. we were standing here and watching mitt and ann romney watch chris christie give the speech, but there was a poignant moment as they got to the box. when they arrived, they were embraced by the three sons and you could tell it was a touching an poignant moment for the romney family. then during chris christie's speech, there was a moment when chris christie got the crowd on the feet to salute mitt romney and romney decided to sit in the seat at that point, and even the people around him were standing up to applauding, and even condoleezza rice, and it was a moment of hue mmility for the g

nominee, and something that ann romney was talking about and a theme they would like to take into the other nights of the convention, wolf. >> good point. i am getting ready for this next interview upstairs in the cnn sky box. and we will go back to john king, and special guest standing by? >> we do have a special guest, one of the speakers tonight and the man who has the unusual distinction to speak in then senator barack obama's 2007 convention and you see republican artur davis is with us. >> former democratic congressman. >> and from the state of alabama and you spoke at the democratic convention four years ago and you said give this young man a chance and the new hope around give the change a hope, and you said that you were sold a bill of goods. after the speech, i want the introduce this now, because we will get fiesty here, and my friend on the far end, took issue. first, i want you to -- >> i am so shocked to hear that. >> you know exactly how i feel. >> how important is this first

night especially since, because of isaac and one night was lost of the convention, and in your mind, what was the single most important point the republican party with you as the new member here tonight made? >> well, if i can leave myself out of it, the most important point was when ann romney walked to the stage by far. i'm a huge chris christie fan, but the most important moment tonight was when ann romney walked to that stage and i got to see a lot of of the speech from the floor. she connected with the audience in the room. she connected i'm sure with the people who were sitting at home and watching her, and i don't think that a lot of the american people know a lot about ann romney, and that is not surprising, because we often don't learn about the would-be first ladies until after the nominations, but i thought that ann romney's introduction to the american people was a home run. so, i love chris christie and the speech tonight was very effective, but i think that ann romney was the pivotal moment the evening. >> you are making the case that ann romney gave a genuine

testament to her husband's character, and i want to make most of the conversation tonight about ann romney and mitt romney and governor christie's keynote, but part of the message was to be genuine and tell the truth and my friend roland martin, if you will explain to the congressman your time. >> i am glad i get the equal time. >> and you are not normally on interviews with me. >> you are right. >> he used the word political fraud and -- >> that is right. why did you not say that you voted with the president for 95% of the time and when you talked about what the president didn't do, and why didn't you say that as a member of congress i did this, and why didn't you take ownership of that, and take ownership of the fact that you were one of the folks who championed the president and used his name and face in the ads running and when you didn't win the democratic nomination for governor and you were ran out of alabama and chose to flip into virginia. so why didn't you talk about your own voting record as

democratic versus this bill of goods here. >> well, i'm going surprise you, and you will give me equal time. i will surprise you with my answer. roland, i wish when i served in congress in 2009 and 2010 i wish i had been more outspoken about the obama agen and i was outspoken about one part of it the health care law, and i will sit here and freely admit to the audience that i should have voted against dodd/frank and should have been more outspoken in the policy in those two years. if people want to make that judgment, that is simply because i did not oppose every aspect of the obama agenda that i'm not a credible spokesperson now, they have every right to do that but i understand that there is focus on me, because i was an elected ofcial and i spoke four years ago, but according to gallop if i can cite gallup on cnn, there

are past supporters of obama and david, i might have poor harvard math, and so that is millions of american, and they say davis is just mad because we didn't vote for him, but i'm curious about the 6.29 million people and what the motivation is, and did they lose primaries or em bittered against the democrats? they are ordinary americans wrestling with the point. i'm in them kap that belie m kc enough to beat up on barack obama and bobby jindal says that from louisiana and chris christie was on the point to k make that tonight, it is not just enough for the republicans to beat up on barack obama. the american people like barack obama for the most part. except for the hard core base of the party, the american people like him. >> and those are the people who are eventually nominated mitt

romn romney. and those are the tea party people -- >> and in the space -- >> but you were here tonight, because you are talking to swing voters, and i mean, you are talking -- >> i tried to make the case to them tonight. >> and you are -- well, how do you make the case, i mean, why, why do that? why have such an incredible 180-degree change. >> well, honestly the easy thing is for me to be a pundit and no offense for what you do, but the easy thing would be to plague on both of the houses -- and here is what i mean on that. here is it is easy to do the plague on both of the houses game and if only both sides would work together in a bi-p t bipartisan way, and for a period of time perhaps i seemed to do that, but i came to conclusion that on all of the issues that we are debating as a country right now, my views line up with the people who are down here and not with the folks next week in

charlotte. >> but you gave a speech trying to appeal to the independents. >> well, there is no question about that. that is a good thing, but you know what i am talking about. >> and john, talking about health care, and when you were a congressman you made no attempt to talk to the president -- >> well, roland, you overestimate mpower in a great deal. >> and you never talked to him. >> i will take a prerogative to be the guy at the end of the road driving the train and work into an important break and cover the speeches by ann romney and chris christie and continue that conversation and tell you about the big night at the republican national convention and also continue our breaking news coverage of isaac and the impact on the gulf coast. our coverage continues in a moment. [ male announcer ] now you can swipe...

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we will get back to the republican national convention shortly, but chad myers has new information on hurricane isaac doing serious damage on the gulf coast, chad. >> well, we have lake bourne which is east of new orleans is 10.5 feet and it is not breaching the walls though. the walls are fine and the levees are fine at 10.5 and they have to get higher than that. now, there is a potential to get higher than that, because wolf, this storm has moved six miles in two hours. since you left us and didn't come back in the break, and this thing has not done much at all. it has not moved. it is just pouring rainfall into the places that sure don't need it. and we are going to watch out for anderson cooper here in a second, and show you what is going on with anderson, because he has another bit of a storm system heading his way.

here is new orleans right there and here is the very next band heading into new orleans. it has been a calm for a while for anderson, but now i believe it is picking up. let's ask him live. anderson, how are you doing? >> chad, you are exactly right. it has been calm and i'm here with meteorologist rob marciano and it has been calm while ann romney and chris christie has been speaking, but as chad has been saying that it picked up in the last five minutes or so. >> yeah, it has been remarkable for the last five minutes with the rain coming down sideways and the winds gusting here in new orleans to 65 miles per hour, and the eye of this thing as chad probably mentioned is 90 miles just so the south. and the hurricane-force winds are 65 miles so we are on the outer edge of that and maybe not full hurricane-force winds, but this consistent wind of well over 40, 50 miles per hour, and that is what is knocking out the power around town. >> yes, chad, in terms of the timing, what are you seeing now, because earlier when we spoke you thought midnight to 4:00 or 5:00 or 8:00 a.m. would be the

worst of it. but what are you seeing now? >> well, some of the come ptoof models are not moving four to five hours and then sliding off to the west. you may be in what you are seeing now for a solid eight hours, and this is the flooding that everyone is concerned about. this is google earth and we will fly over where you are, the bottom of the mississippi river right here and the center of the hurricane right here, and 80 miles per hour, and our eddie lavendara is right there, and finally, finally eddie is in the eye, and the winds have calmed down for him. he had a 74-mile-an-hour gust right there. there is you at the port of new orlea orleans, anderson and for you, rob. and right here along the river. the river has been going to wrong way all day. this river was down to about a three-foot datum and now it is up to 10 feet, but not because of freshwater rain, but ten f10 because the ltwater is pushing

up the mississippi the wrong direction and this lake bourne is shell beach pushing it into mr. goal, and because we are post katrina, that wall is keeping everybody out of the gulf like it is supposed to. the next thing that we have not worried about or talked about a lot is baton rouge, because tomorrow this storm may be 75 to 80-mile-an-hour storm right over baton rouge. there is the center of the line. baton rouge, you need to batten down, anderson. >> yes, chad. thank you very much. the real question is with how much rain are we going to get overnight, and how much flooding is there going to be, because you can see around here, and just on the ground, there is a lot of, you know, water laying around and that is all water that is coming from the rain and you really get a sense when you look over here by the satellite truck which we parked to kind of hug the wall in case that the

wind changed direction, because you don't want the satellite truck to flip, you have a sense of what -- you can really see how much that rain is just pouring down. it has been like this now on and off throughout the evening. >> well, it is sheets of rain and a really dense rain and seems to be coming down with high volume and so that is the sort of rain piling up and coming off of the rooftops and getting down to the low level areas and the drainage canals are going to fill up and the pumps will kick in. i talked to my source at the army corps of engineers a few minutes ago and he said that everything so far is working according to the plan and no major issues or concerns. and the river gauge here at the end of the mississippi is up five feet and we have seen a rise there. similar rise up at lake pontchartrain and the northern shore is going to be an issue because they have wind pressing that water, too. >> and you have talked about the ability of the pumps, and the capacity of the pumps to actually pump out the rainwater. if chatd d is right and we have inches of rain through the course of the storm, the pumps

cannot keep up with that. >> no, they can't. it is one of the things that the corps acknowledges and knows that there is some flooding and in some of the more typical areas in the town, and some of the locals are more familiar than we are, but it is a matter of how bad it is going to be because they are designed to pump out one inch of water in the first hour of the storm and we have seen that and half an inch after that and we are seeing the rainfall rates that exceed two the three inches per hour certainly, and that is going to continue through the night. >> i don't know if you saw that vehicle that rob was talking, but the vehicle came and did a circle and turned around and that is a police vehicle. we have been seeing it all night. they are on patrol and not hunkered down but on the streets trying to keep an eye on everything. >> absolutely, and the crews have been out shooting various things around town said that the streets are desolate and the major roadways have very, very little traffic. so that the folks have been taken heed, and if they have not evacuated at least they have gone into the shelter and stayed in place. >> and at last count 150,000 people without power and another

count said maybe 200,000. >> yes, over 200,000, and that number will continue to climb after the constant barrage of hurricane-force winds that will knock out the water. >> we will take a quick break and when we come back, we will go into the eye of the storm and talk to ed lavandara in grand isle when we come back. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing.

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hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance. and welcome back. our continuing coverage of hurricane isaac here. you were just out taking the wind readings, but it is hard to tell in this area.

>> it is. we have buildings around us, so it is twirling in many areas and i sense that we are starting to get a little bit of a wind shift, and with the storm being nearly due south of us, the more it moves off to the west, the more the winds -- and it is going to change the dynamic of the storm at least for new orleans. and one of the ways is that it getting pressure from the constant wind and now maybe see some loosening of the -- >> well, it seems that we have lost that signal there. we kind of waited for a little bit. here is what happens when you are down there in a hurricane and you have the dish up about six or eight feet around and pointed up at the satellite and then all of the sudden the wind gusts hits it and shakes a little bit and it takes the signal away from the satellite and we will wait for it to come back. now, let me show you where the guys r because new orleans is really in the thick of it. i didn't get surprised by them losing that signal. there is the hardest band that new orleans has seen all night

long right through there. winds in this band with at least being 60 and gusting to 75. that is not quite hurricane. you have to have sustained at 74 miles per hour to be a hurricane. but that's the signal here, and that is the signal lost that we are getting, and also, sometimes the satellite that we send up, that signal can't even get through all of the rain, and if you are a dish network or directv person you know that you get rain fade when it rains real hard and you are trying to watch a football game, it is raining so hard and then the football game goes away until the rain stop stops. but john zarrella is down where the rain has stopped right down there in grand isle and that is, ed lavandara here. and we have john zarrella in gulfport which is way over here sh, and we sent him over here, because there is going to be a surge and we know at least three feet of surge, and tell me what you have in gulfport, mississippi, sir. >> hey, chad, how did you know it was dry here, too. you are absolutely right. you know, actually, it feels

like, you nknow, you are gettin a bucket of water poured on your head, and then for a while, it is like the atmosphere gets rung out, and right now, it is just dry here. it is windy and gusty and dry, but we have certainly not experienced anything of tropical, above tropical storm force here. and looking out into the distance, you were mentioning the storm surge why we are here, and the tide is relatively low and it is coming in now, but far from high tide. you can see the waves breaking, but i walked down there a few minutes ago and still not coming up past the beach, and that is highway 90 for the viewers out there that runs along the mississippi coastline here, and it is qte tomorrow afternoon, a portion of that, certainly it could be underwater as the tide comes up with 6 to 9 foot of storm surge and chad, many of the viewers

will rthi where i am standing is 20 feehigh. this is a courtyard hotel and one of the famous iges >> this is one of the producers to interrupt to go back to anderson erse the signal is back. and because theignal is so intermittent and because yours is so good, i want to go to anrson now. rson, go. >> hey, chad, thankou very mu much, and we are here with rob and literally when the signal went down, we got wallop and we wao walk with the camera to give you a sense of how bad it has become now. and right now we are underneath e awning, but when you step out -- this is just incredible. >> the sheets of rain cong down across the area and the rooftop of the destruction and the equipment is taking shelter and pouring water out and what seems to be a couple of hundred gallons were secondand it i truly amazg the amount of water isaac is dumping on new orleans now. >> we lost the agnd we thought we had positioned the

satellite truck there pretty well next to the wall protected from the wind, but with this rain, you get knocked off of the air. >> and the same rain fade that people get home that have satellite dishes in the home, and we get it here to the lesser extent because the dish is bigger, but yeah, we will have problems going forward and peeking at the radar and listening to chad, we are in for it tonight, and with this raining sideways, it is no night to be out. the people of new orleans have certainly taken that advice and staying indoors. >> chad n term chad, in terms of the storm and where it is , is this representative of where it is going to be like the night or particularly bad? >> this is particularly bad. you are in one of the worst outer bands so far. there is still much more that is going to be more intense in six hours when the eye is closer to you, but right now, you in the most iense outer band we have seen so far and zooming into new orleans right there, and you will see it sliding in or slamming from the south and southeast and it is still going

to get worse before it gets better in the next 15 minutes for both of you. so if you need to take cover, go ahead and do so, anderson. >> all right. we will take actually a quick break. we will be right back and the storm coverage continues. stay with us. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. covering 2,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. at&t. rethink possible.

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and you are looking at pictures of gulfport, mississippi, and the tides really starting to come in. we are going to talk to john zarrella who is there and i'm here with rob marciano in the port area in new orleans and soledad o'brien in jackson square and we have correspondents all throughout

the region and we are right now over roofs and that is water pouring off of the roofs and i don't want people to think that is the rain, but it is water pouring off of a roof. we want the walk this way and around where the satellite truck is to raeally get a sense of ho strong the winds are right now as chad pointed out, we are in this band and it is whipping water around. it is this type of water that can lead to flooding from the rain. >> yes, just rainfall and freshwater flooding is what we talk about and here in new orleans and outside of the levee, and we have not spoken too much about what is going on outside of the protective levee of the city which is 133-miles of reinforced stuff built up since katrina, but where there have been spotty evacuations, they have been in a battle tonight and doing it sandbagging and doing it the old-fashioned way and not the modern engineering that the army corps of engineers has offered up.

and we have talked about how the shore has risen up, and rainfall coming in, and freshwater coming into the city and freshwater flooding inland as well. we can't forget about the friends living near the coast, because we will see dramatic inland flooding as well. >> this is going to continue throughout early tomorrow. and let's check in with soledad down there in jackson square. how is it down there? >> well, the same thing, anderson. sheets of driving rain we are picking up in the band that chad told us is coming and now it is there and the gusting winds as well. one thing we have seen in the last ten minute s s is this standing water for the first time. when the water was coming in, it would rain and stop and rain and stop and that gave the wear lots of time to clear and now we are seeing because the water is coming down so hard, it is beginning to stand and that is an indication this could be a problem. it is the standing water that

you were talking about, because it is going to be a problem for the pump and the drainage system as well. you know, earlier we also saw, when it was not so windy and the rain was not driving quite so hard, some people walking around and some of the bars are actually open believe it or not, but as soon as it got tougher out here, folks have pretty much left the area, and you pointed out that the police a officers have been patrolling and we have seen the cars coming through and tough about getting the people out of these areas and trying to get them to go inside. as you can see, the trees, and we are concerned about the debris breaking off and coming our way, so we are trying to keep an eye on that as the winds have picked up just as chad promised with the outer band, the winds have picked up significantly. anderson? >> well, i should point out several thousand national guard troops from louisiana were mobilized and i saw them driving around in humvees this morning in the french quarter when i was out running this morning and there is a heavy police and law enforcement presence on the ground, and you have seen it as well.

>> absolutely. there was anxiety a few days ago when we thought it might be a category 2 or 3 storm, but there is always this sense of control and calm over the city of new orleans. i mean, there's been so much work done since katrina and so much protocol and plans in

good evening. we are here in tampa, but the real action tonight is happening down in new orleans, and anderson cooper is live there with hurricane isaac. andersonck